JPI Daily News Digest 10/1/2012
Published: October 1, 2012
National: When the Justice System Fails (Huffington Post)
For young black men in Philadelphia, sometimes just walking down the street is all it takes to earn a two-month stint in jail. On Dec. 8 2010, then-18-year-old Isaiah Smith was just returning from visiting his cousin, when he noticed two police officers who were patrolling the area peering out at him from their squad car.
National: Private Prisons Currently Exempt from Freedom of Information Act (Nation of Change)
It seems that every few days I read a new press release or “study” commissioned by the private prison industry lauding its supposedly unmatched performance on measures of efficiency and safety relative to the public sector. Despite the industry’s zeal for public approval, it routinely refuses to disclose the very information necessary to support its arguments.
CA: SB 9, California Juvenile Second Chance Bill, Signed By Governor Brown (Huffington Post)
Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday announced signing a bill that could one day bring the release of some criminals who were sentenced as juveniles to life in prison
There are 309 inmates serving life-without-parole sentences in California for murders committed when they were younger than 18.
National: Exploring the Role of the Police in Prisoner Reentry (Corrections.com)
The past generation has witnessed a number of significant changes in the American approach to the twin challenges of reducing crime and administering justice. Arguably the two most important changes in the American criminal justice landscape have been the evolving role of the police and the use of incarceration as a response to crime, which brought with it the subsequent release of millions of people from prison. Much has been written about modern American policing and prisoner reentry individually, yet the intersection of the two has received relatively little attention. This paper explores this intersection and makes the case that there is a role for the police in the prisoner reentry movement.
National: Studies bring positive news on recidivism, corrections spending (Grits for Breakfast)
A pair of recent public policy reports offer hopeful news. First, the Austin Statesman brings word of a Council of State Governments report (pdf)out today on trends toward lower recidivism, including in Texas. According to the study, "Texas saw a drop of 22 percent between [inmates released in] 2000 and 2007." (Keep in mind recidivism data takes three years to compile, so the data from those released in 2007 can't be calculated until after 2010.)
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