Long-Awaited Criminal Justice Reform Introduced In Senate
A bipartisan criminal justice reform bill introduced in the Senate last week includes changes to mandatory minimum sentences for low level drug offenses.
St. Louis Considers Privatizing Jail Medical Care
With St. Louis jails disproportionately filled with blacks and other populations underserved by health care, the move could prove disastrous for inmates.
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Attitudes Toward Treatment Limit Chicago’s Former Youth Inmates’ Access To Health Care
Only 15.4% of detainees with mental health disorders receive treatment. 31% of former youth prisoners were not sure where to go for treatment.
Juvenile Justice Reform Will Fail Without Specific Focus On Young Women
Black girls were about three times as likely as white girls to be referred to juvenile court, and 20% more likely to be detained than white girls. American Indian/Alaska Native girls were 50% more likely to be locked-up.
More Reports Of Debtors Prisons Surface In Louisiana And New Hampshire
A federal lawsuit in New Orleans, Louisiana, and a report by the ACLU of New Hampshire, document the practice of jailing people unable to pay their court debts, violating the due process rights of the poor by failing to provide them with legal counsel and ability-to-pay hearings.
Grijalva Rails Against Contracts Permitted In His Own Prison Reform Bill
Progressive Arizona congressman Raúl Grijalva expressed dismay that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) signed an $11 million contract with GEO Care because its parent company, GEO Group, profits off detaining women and children in horrific conditions. Yet, remarkably, Grijalva is the sponsor of a bill, which contains specific exemptions allowing companies
The Heavy Price Families And Communities Pay For Incarceration
A new report details how families pay a high price for the incarceration of a relative—a price “felt most deeply by women, low-income families and communities of color.” It examines the various ways families and former prisoners “pay” for their incarceration, even after they are released. The report, “Who Pays? The True Cost Of
New York City Council Adopts Eight Bills For Transparency, Oversight Of Jails
Last week, the New York City Council sent eight bills to Mayor Bill DeBlasio’s desk aimed at bringing greater transparency to the city’s jails. The wave of legislation was introduced this past spring and its passage marks the latest efforts by the city to reign in the brutal culture of violence and impunity that has reigned inside its jails for years.
Bernie Sanders’ Private Prison Reform Bill Would Leave Opportunities For Industry To Grow
Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), has introduced legislation to abolish aspects of the prison industrial-complex. However, despite being touted as a private prison abolition bill, it would still leave some areas of corrections open to contractors. On September 17, Sanders joined Representatives Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Keith Ellison (D-Minn.)