might-there-finally-be-a-light-toward-the-exit-for-elderly-and-infirm-federal-prisoners

Might There Finally Be A Light Toward The Exit For Elderly And Infirm Federal Prisoners?

As the population ages, more and more of our elderly and infirm who have been convicted of federal crimes are finding themselves behind bars. While there does exist a vehicle by which to secure the early “compassionate release” of elderly and terminally ill offenders, defendants’ requests for sentence reduction under this provision has traditionally fallen […]

Local Prosecutor Seeks Re-Election by Bragging About “Proudly Over-Crowding Our Prisons”

A recent blog in Reason.com brought to light the bragging of a local Indiana prosecutor who is seeking reelection. The full headline of the posting is entitled “Indiana Prosecutor Bradley Cooper Is ‘Proudly Over-Crowding our Prisons’: Cooper’s new campaign flyer brags about the people he’s put in prison for decades over drug sales and minor […]

Racial and Gender Dynamics Regarding Rates of Incarceration

A blog recently posted via the Washington Post highlights notable data on racial and gender dynamics regarding recent changes in the rates of incarceration. Following decades of growth, the U.S. imprisonment rate has been declining for the past several years and hidden within this overall trend is the sizable and surprising racial disparity that African-Americans […]

Federal Judge Reacts to Mandatory Minimum Sentence for Defendant that he Sentenced

“Former federal judge to President Obama: Free the man I sentenced to 55 years in prison” headlines an article in the Washington Post. Former U.S. District Court Judge Paul Cassell (previously appointed to the bench in 2002 by former President George W. Bush and now a professor at the University of Utah’s law school) has […]

Transforming Prisons and Restoring Lives

The Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections issued numerous recommendations last week to reform the federal criminal justice system in a large report entitled “Transforming Prisons, Restoring Lives.” A primary goal highlighted in the recommendations is focused on Federal Corrections sending fewer low-level drug offenders to federal prison and also sentencing offenders to far […]

Computers for Inmates?

“Free computers for inmates? It’s latest deal at Sacramento County jail” is the headline of a recent Sacramento Bee article regarding the fact that 40 of the tablets have been in use at the Main Jail downtown for two months, and officials say they have had virtually no problems. Inmates have used them to take […]

Federal Prison Population

Thanks to retroactive drug guidelines, federal prison population under 200,000 for first time in nearly a decade. Finally, we’re headed in the right direction!

Heroin Addiction and White Privilege

“Heroin addiction sent me to prison. White privilege got me out and to the Ivy League.” This is the provocative headline of a piece in the Washington Post about a senior at Cornell University who was arrested for heroin possession. As an addict (a condition that began during a deep depression), he was muddling his […]