The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog: Criminal Law

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Criminal Law

The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

News, commentary and analysis on prisons: government proposals with the aim of stemming overcrowding and recidivism; inmate living conditions and changing demographics; sentencing issues.
By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

Post Frequency: 33.9/day

Last Entry: March 27, 2011 at 18:14:51

MA: Boston Globe Editorial: Better sense in sentencing

Posted on May 07, 2009
Better sense in sentencing May 7, 2009 Boston Globe Editorial MANDATORY MINIMUM sentences for nonviolent drug crimes don't prompt offenders to clean up their acts. But they do pick the pockets of taxpayers, who cover the $47,000 annual cost of...

CA: Yolo City Supervisors Vote No On Rural "Re-Entry" Prison

Posted on May 06, 2009
Doors closed on county rural prison idea By CRYSTAL LEE Created: 05/06/2009 The Yolo County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to kill construction of a proposed rural state re-entry prison. Supervisors decided that with a looming $24 million budget deficit...

OR: Business Group Says Suspend Measure 57 for Two Years

Posted on May 05, 2009
Oregon lawmakers might curb prison spending 5/2/2009, 3:41 p.m. PT BRAD CAIN The Associated Press (AP) ? SALEM, Ore. - A business group floated a plan this week aimed at protecting school funding by suspending implementation of a get-tough-on-crime measure...

NV: Another "heart-warming" story about the value of exploited priosner labor

Posted on May 05, 2009
When things get tough in Tonopah, residents call on inmates to help fix roofs and fight wildfires. Now state budget cuts threaten to close the prison. By Ashley Powers May 5, 2009 Tonopah, Nev. -- Diane Perchetti couldn't pull off...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Justices Agree to Take Up Life Without Parole for Youth

Posted on May 05, 2009
Justices Agree to Take Up Sentencing for Young Offenders By ADAM LIPTAK Published: May 4, 2009- NY Times WASHINGTON ? The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to consider whether the reasoning that led it to strike down the death penalty...

CT: Criminal Defense Attorney Suggests a Different Kind of Background for Supreme Court Justice

Posted on May 04, 2009
Pattis Helps Out Senators New Haven Independent by Melinda Tuhus | May 4, 2009 A New Haven criminal defense attorney posed the first question for the potential next U.S. Supreme Court justice. Norm Pattis posed the question not at a...

Wesleyan University (CT): Students Push for Prison Classes

Posted on May 02, 2009
Students Push for Prison Classes Jan. 30th, 2009 ? Vol. CXLV, No. 1 Wesleyan Argus By Jae Aron, Features Editor Students are asking the school to award prisoners academic credit. STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER / CHARLOTTE ROBERTSON Students are asking the school...

Federal prisoners travel unescorted from prison to prison by bus

Posted on May 02, 2009
Federal convicts travel unescorted from prison to prison Monday, April 27, 2009 By JASON WHITELY / WFAA-TV DALLAS ? Among the hundreds of bus passengers arriving everyday in downtown Dallas, there are some the government doesn't want the public to...

The Montana Town That Wanted to Be Gitmo

Posted on April 30, 2009
The Montana Town That Wanted to Be Gitmo By PAT DAWSON Hardin Thu Apr 30, 2009 The coils of razor wire glint in the prairie sun like silver tumbleweeds piled against the tall chain-link perimeter fences of the forlorn Two...

NV: Senators Vote to Reverse Governor's Recommendation to Close NSP

Posted on April 30, 2009
Nevada Lawmakers order state prison to remain open By Geoff Dornan Lake Tahoe Bonanza News Service CARSON CITY, Nev. ? Lawmakers Tuesday voted to reverse the governor?s budget recommendation and keep Nevada State Prison open for the next two years....

"The Real Cost of Prisons Comix"

Posted on April 29, 2009
"The Real Cost of Prisons Comix" Lois Ahrens, editor PM Press of Oakland, Calif. Book Bag, Daily Hampshire Gazette, Northampton, MA This book is a collection of three comic books, including accompanying essays, that explore the social, emotional and financial...

Obama Administration Calls for End to Crack-Powder Sentencing Disparity

Posted on April 29, 2009
Obama Administration Calls for End to Crack-Powder Sentencing Disparity by Jasmine Tyler, Anthony Papa Huffington Post April 29, 2009 On President Obama's 100th day in office the White House asked Congress to address the issue of disparity in penalties for...

NACDL: "Minor Crimes, Massive Waste: The Terrible Toll of America?s Broken Misdemeanor Courts"

Posted on April 28, 2009
Washington, DC (Apr. 28, 2009) ? Nationwide, state and local governments are wasting millions of tax dollars to prosecute petty offenses, creating huge deficits in their budgets and violating the constitutional rights of citizens haled into court. That is the...

ACLU files suit about double-bunking in Mass. prisons

Posted on April 28, 2009
ACLU files suit about double-bunking in Mass. prisons By Associated Press Monday, April 27, 2009 Boston Herald BOSTON ? A lawsuit is demanding answers about Massachusetts inmates doubled up in cells originally used for one person in a maximum-security prison...

Time to decriminalize drugs? The Portuguese experiment

Posted on April 27, 2009
"...the Portuguese government decided to create a high-level commission, dominated by health care professionals, to recommend a solution. The commission's surprise recommendation: Don't officially legalize all drugs. Instead, decriminalize them, take away all criminal penalties...

Before Census, a Debate Over Prisoners Critics Say Current Method of Counting Inmates Distorts Rural, Urban Tallies

Posted on April 27, 2009
Before Census, a Debate Over Prisoners Critics Say Current Method of Counting Inmates Distorts Rural, Urban Tallies By Keith B. Richburg Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, April 26, 2009 NEW YORK -- Elizabeth O'C. Little, a Republican state senator, represents...

CA: State prisons chief proposes $400 million in cuts

Posted on April 25, 2009
State prisons chief proposes $400 million in cuts afurillo@sacbee.com Published Friday, Apr. 24, 2009 California corrections officials today unveiled $400 million in cost-cutting proposals that would reduce the state prison population by 8,000 inmates by next summer...

Judge orders changes in medication distribution at women's prison

Posted on April 25, 2009
Judge orders changes in medication distribution at women's prison By John Diedrich of the Journal Sentinel Apr. 24, 2009 A federal judge ruled Friday that the Wisconsin Department of Corrections must make changes to its inmate prescription system at Taycheedah...

The phone rip-off for Massachusetts prison inmates, families

Posted on April 24, 2009
The phone rip-off for Massachusetts prison inmates, families By Daily Hampshire Gazette- Northampton, MA Created 04/24/2009 Prison inmates who use the telephone to maintain strong family ties will be better prepared to rebuild their lives upon returning home...

MT: ACLU says CCA discriminates against Native American Prisoners

Posted on April 24, 2009
ACLU says private Montana prison discriminates By LEN IWANSKI --AP April 23, 2009 A spokesman for the Montana Corrections Department says they're investigating allegations that Native American inmates were mistreated and discriminated against at the Crossroads Correctional Center in Shelby...

Another War America Cannot Afford

Posted on April 24, 2009
Another War America Cannot Afford By Bill Haney Huffington Post April 23, 2009 Senator Obama swept into national prominence with his prescient view that an American war in Iraq was one we should not start and could not win. By...

MT: Jail Desperate for Prisoners Tries for Prisoners at Guantanamo

Posted on April 24, 2009
Hardin jail tries for detainees from Gitmo By BECKY SHAY Of The Gazette Staff Economic development officials in Hardin are looking at the soon-to-close detention facility in Guantanamo Bay as a possible fix for the jail sitting empty in Hardin....

Prison population, corrections budget spike during truth in sentencing

Posted on April 23, 2009
"If a crime policy is gauged by its ability to lower crime rates and rehabilitate inmates to prevent return trips to prison, then truth in sentencing has failed." Prison population, corrections budget spike during truth in sentencing Jessica VanEgeren April...

TX: Expand program to divert mentally ill from prisons

Posted on April 23, 2009
Commentary Expand program to divert mentally ill from prisons By MARC A. LEVIN April 22, 2009 Mental illness is a key factor in driving up correctional costs in Texas. There are 42,556 offenders with a mental health diagnosis in prison,...

After Losing Freedom, Some Immigrants Face Loss of Custody of Their Children

Posted on April 23, 2009
After Losing Freedom, Some Immigrants Face Loss of Custody of Their Children By GINGER THOMPSON- NY Times Published: April 22, 2009 CARTHAGE, Mo. ? When immigration agents raided a poultry processing plant near here two years ago, they had no...

Supreme Court Cuts Back Officers? Searches of Vehicles

Posted on April 23, 2009
Supreme Court Cuts Back Officers? Searches of Vehicles By ADAM LIPTAK- NY Times Published: April 21, 2009 WASHINGTON ? The Supreme Court on Tuesday significantly cut back the ability of the police to search the cars of people they arrest....

Lauderdale County Mississippi can now use a portion of the money collected from inmate telephone service for the local jail ministry program.

Posted on April 23, 2009
Lauderdale County Mississippi can now use a portion of the money collected from inmate telephone service for the local jail ministry program. April 22, 2009 Gov. Haley Barbour signed a bill earlier this month that authorized use of the money....

Western MA: Rep. Neal's Opposition to Needle Exchange Continues including no support for lifting HR 179 lifting bad on suport for federal needle exchange funds

Posted on April 22, 2009
New Hope for Needle Exchange A new bill may lift a 1988 ban on using federal funds to support needle exchange programs. Tuesday, April 21, 2009 By Maureen Turner Valley Advocate Tim Purington got some bad news last week: the...

MN: Senate bill aims to cut prison sentences to save state funds

Posted on April 21, 2009
Senate bill aims to cut prison sentences to save state funds by Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio April 16, 2009 A bill introduced in the Minnesota Senate this week would cut prison sentences across the board and lower penalties for...

Florida lawmakers weigh overhauling system for mentally ill prionsers

Posted on April 21, 2009
THE LEGISLATURE Florida lawmakers weigh overhauling system for mentally ill criminals Florida lawmakers, pushed by a Miami judge, are considering an overhaul of the system for handling mentally ill criminals. BY SHANNON COLAVECCHIO Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau TALLAHASSEE -- The current...

Previous | Next

Related Law Bulletins

Real Estate Agents, Lenders, Appraisers & Home Inspectors: ARE BUYERS WASTING TOO MUCH OF YOUR TIME?
PREQUALIFY, PREQUALIFY, PREQUALIFY. It cannot be said enough times...

Texas Real Property Law for Commercial Landlords
I have found that landlords generally face the same set of issues ...

What Should Sellers Look for in Hiring a Real Estate Agent?
MARKETING SKILLS, MARKETING "SUPPORT" AND EXPERIENCE. There are nu...

Should Sellers Hire a Real Estate Agent?
We often say YES! There are simply far too many unscrupulous buyer...

Real Estate Tax Appeals: Who Has the Burden of Proof
Recently, many municipalities have performed revaluations in order...