SAN FRANCISCO — Sara Kruzan was 17 when she was sentenced to die in prison for killing and robbing a pimp in a Riverside motel.
Now, at 32, Kruzan has a chance at being freed, along with thousands of other juveniles convicted of murder who were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Read more...
Monday, August 20, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Texas says rise in paroles gives state bragging rights
Officials say reforms are 'smart on crime' and save money.
Texas continues a steady march away from its Old West image of being tough on crime to one that state leaders now call "smart on crime" and even fiscally "right on crime."
Nothing makes that more apparent than the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole's newly released bragging rights: More prisoners were paroled this past fiscal year than any other year in the past decade, and fewer parolees are being sent back. Read more...
Texas continues a steady march away from its Old West image of being tough on crime to one that state leaders now call "smart on crime" and even fiscally "right on crime."
Nothing makes that more apparent than the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole's newly released bragging rights: More prisoners were paroled this past fiscal year than any other year in the past decade, and fewer parolees are being sent back. Read more...
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Arizona parolees to pay drug test fees
Arizona stands to save $500,000 a year under a new law that requires parolees to pay a portion of their drug-testing fees each month, but prisoner advocates fear the additional costs will strain personal budgets.
The law goes into effect Thursday, but Arizona Department of Corrections legislative liaison Jennifer Bowser said the state has yet to determine how much the parolee will pay and when the new requirement will actually be implemented.
"This change is an efficiency, cost-saving thing," Bowser said. Read more...
The law goes into effect Thursday, but Arizona Department of Corrections legislative liaison Jennifer Bowser said the state has yet to determine how much the parolee will pay and when the new requirement will actually be implemented.
"This change is an efficiency, cost-saving thing," Bowser said. Read more...
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Governor Patrick may sign ‘three strikes’ bill
But urges lawmakers to agree to changes
Governor Deval Patrick signaled Tuesday that he may be open to signing a high-profile crime bill if lawmakers agree to make changes next year.
At the same time, Patrick said he had made no final decision about the bill, which is currently on his desk.
“It’s a good bill; it’s not a great bill,” Patrick told reporters just before he entered a meeting with House and Senate leaders. “There’s a lot of work that has not yet been done, and I’m hoping that I can get a commitment from the leadership, a commitment to come back and do some of it at the beginning of the next session.”
The bill approved by lawmakers last week would reduce mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses, a Patrick priority, while making many repeat violent offenders ineligible for parole under a much-debated “three-strikes” provision. Read more...
Governor Deval Patrick signaled Tuesday that he may be open to signing a high-profile crime bill if lawmakers agree to make changes next year.
At the same time, Patrick said he had made no final decision about the bill, which is currently on his desk.
“It’s a good bill; it’s not a great bill,” Patrick told reporters just before he entered a meeting with House and Senate leaders. “There’s a lot of work that has not yet been done, and I’m hoping that I can get a commitment from the leadership, a commitment to come back and do some of it at the beginning of the next session.”
The bill approved by lawmakers last week would reduce mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses, a Patrick priority, while making many repeat violent offenders ineligible for parole under a much-debated “three-strikes” provision. Read more...
Monday, July 9, 2012
Gov. Tom Corbett signs Pennsylvania prison reform into law
Prison reform became law on Thursday, sort of.
Gov. Tom Corbett signed Senate Bill 100, which incorporated many of the reform proposals recommended by his Justice Reinvestment Working Group and which passed both the House and the Senate unanimously.
Gov. Tom Corbett signed Senate Bill 100, which incorporated many of the reform proposals recommended by his Justice Reinvestment Working Group and which passed both the House and the Senate unanimously.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
PEW Releases Study on "Time Served" in Prison and Its Cost and Consequences
The PEW Center on the States recently released a study regarding the incresed amount of time prisoners are serving in prison and the cost and consequences of requiring longer time to serve. Researchers found that the length of time served in prison has increased markedly over the last two decades. Howver extended prison sentences came at a price: prisoners released from incarceration in 2009 cost states $23,300 per offender--or a total of over $10 billion nationwide. More than half of that amount was for non-violent offenders. Read more here ...
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Sex offenders sue over Facebook restrictions
Registered sex offenders who have been banned from social networking websites are fighting back in the nation's courts, successfully challenging many of the restrictions as infringements on free speech and their right to participate in common online discussions.
The legal battles pit public outrage over sex crimes against cherished guarantees of individual freedom and the far-reaching communication changes brought by Facebook, LinkedIn and dozens of other sites
Read more here...
The legal battles pit public outrage over sex crimes against cherished guarantees of individual freedom and the far-reaching communication changes brought by Facebook, LinkedIn and dozens of other sites
Read more here...
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