California Voters Approve Prop 47

Tuesday, November 4, 2014 voters in California approved Proposition 47. This means that nonviolent offenses will now be deemed misdemeanors instead of felonies. About 10,000 people currently incarcerated for things…

Prison Reform in California

Prison reform has begun in California: The California Fair Sentencing Act makes certain that people who are convicted of certain offenses involving crack cocaine will no longer receive harsher punishments…

Stuck In Jail

In county jails, 6 out of 10 inmates are stuck behind bars not because of any risk to the outside community or the likelihood they would fail to appear in…

Reforming Drug Laws

Is the end to federal "mandatory minimum" sentencing for drug offenders finally on the way. Law makers are hoping a bipartisan effort can be made to regulate marijuana the same…

Torturing Our Children

What defines child abuse is a question we need to be asking. A 16 year old girl being held in solitary confinement for 22 hours a day for several months…

GAO Report on Overcrowded Prisons

The Bureau of Prisons is 39% over capacity making prisoners confined to smaller spaces. Up to three inmates are housed in rooms meant to house one prisoner. Sometimes inmates need…

What Is A Just and Fair Sentence?

In Norway, a mass murderer was recently sentenced to 21 years in prison. Norway uses a restorative sentencing model emphasizing healing for the victims, society and the convicted criminal. In the United…

Pennsylvania Prison Reform

We are now seeing a whole new direction for housing non-violent offenders due to the cost of incarceration and difficulties with state budgets.. Pennsylvania's Criminal Justice Reform act will save…