Will the First Step Act Lead to the Second Step in Prison Reform?
A Necessary Reform The First Step Act, an initiative aimed at federal prison reform, was recently enacted into law. It passed both the House and Senate with overwhelming support. President Trump immediately signed the legislation. Thus, the Act affirms the popular consensus of the American public that some form of federal prison reform is needed.…
Profits from Prison Labor: Aid Versus Exploitation
The Peruvian Model INPE, the national penitentiary institute, states that more than half of Peru’s incarcerated women are actively employed. The Peruvian penitentiary system currently houses nearly 5,000 women. Of that 5,000, nearly 85% are mothers, with families they must support at home. Some earn as much as $300 dollars a month – roughly the…
Kelly Jones Describes the State of Quarantine in U.S. Federal Prisons
On April 1, 2020, the Federal Bureau of Prisons played the biggest April Fool’s joke ever. However, the bad part for inmates was, it wasn’t a joke. That was the day the BOP instituted their nationwide lockdown for all federal prisons due to the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. federal prisons are divided into four security levels: high, medium, low,…
Cash bail studies reveal racism, classism in the system
Dealing with the Bail System Public opinion has long criticized cash bail as costly and unfair to taxpayers. Two separate studies have now revealed how unjust the bail system is. These studies are further examples of how desperately America needs a reform of its criminal justice system. Classism in the bail system The first study…
Brain Scan Evidence in Criminal Sentences
Brain Scan Evidence in Criminal Sentences Does Information About the Brain of a Defendant Help or Hurt in Criminal Sentencing? A Fascinating Experiment Gives Us the Answer Creative criminal defense attorneys are now using brain evidence more frequently in criminal sentencing throughout the U.S. Brain scan data, such as that taken from an MRI or…
Justice reform takes its first steps with the First Step Act
Last year President Trump signed the first piece of prison reform legislation in years. The First Step Act is aimed in part at reducing the federal prison population. It garnered overwhelming bipartisan support in the House and Senate. Since becoming law, this bill has been quietly applauded by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.…
Senate Bill Lets BOP Use More Home Confinement To Fight Coronavirus
The U.S. Senate, late Wednesday, passed legislation that grants the Attorney General the authority to permit expanded use of home confinement by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) to help deal with the spread of COVID-19, commonly known as the coronavirus. The bill also allows for free video visits if the expanded home confinement authority…
AB 392 AIMS TO PREVENT UNNECESSARY VIOLENCE COMMITTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT IN CALIFORNIA STATE
Between Reasonable and Necessary: California’s New Police Law After many painful decades of dealing with the police brutality epidemic, California’s governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law a bill entitled Assembly Bill 392 or “The California Act to Save Lives” to help solve this problem on August 19, 2019. Introduced by Assembly member, Shirley Weber,…
BOP Plans To Digitize Incoming Prisoner Mail
The Bureau of Prisons wants to digitize incoming prisoner mail. According to a recent request for information, the Bureau of Prisons hopes “to eliminate synthetic drug contraband secreted in the physical mail by using a turnkey offsite postal mail scanning service that will reduce costs, streamline BOP operations, eliminate contraband and provide a whole new…
AB 392 aims to prevent unnecessary violence committed by law enforcement in California state.
Introducing AB 392 : The California Act to Save Lives: Clark’s shooting was one of the main factors that motivated California lawmakers to improve the state’s criminal justice system. But this shooting is far from the only catalyst, as it is just one of the latest incidents in a long and sad history of police…