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Notice to Prison Law Blog Readers

I hope this post finds all of you well. Today I have an administrative note to share concerning the future of the Prison Law Blog. As part of my vision for the future, a future which includes a new entity called Zoukis Prisoner Resources, the Prison Law Blog will be undergoing a transformation in the

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American Jail Population Remains Steady

By Chris Zoukis The population of America’s jails at mid-year 2014 remained steady at approximately three-quarters or a million prisoners, at 744,600 men, women, and children.  This number represents a 1.8 percent increase from 2013 levels, but is still lower than the 2008 high of 785,500 persons, according to a June 2015 report from the

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New York Prisoner’s Disciplinary Guilty Verdict Upheld

By Chris Zoukis On Sept. 22, 2016 the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York upheld the conviction of state prisoner Jason Gano for violating prison rules. Gano allegedly set off a metal detector in the prison, prompting a pat-down search which revealed razor blades hidden in his coat. Gano was charged with

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Federal Prison Inmate Headcount Declines for Third Straight Year

Declining prison populations may eventually help alleviate the effects of overcrowding. The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) reported last month that during Fiscal Year 2016 — which closed at the end of September — the number of federal inmates in its facilities declined for the third consecutive year. The 192,170 inmates in BOP facilities as

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Internet Access Is a Human Right. Should Prisoners Have It?

Allowing supervised access to the internet could help with rehabilitation and reduce recidivism. Internet and computer access dominates most people’s lives to a major degree in many countries around the world. More than 45 percent of the world population has an internet connection at home — that’s fast approaching 4 billion people. In the United

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Youth Punished For Inability to Pay in Juvenile Justice System

Inability to pay for court-related costs, fees for mandated tests, fines, and other costs can mean youth will be denied bail and remain in juvenile detention. Lower-income and racial and ethnic minority youth are far more likely to face incarceration or probation because of an inability to pay debts imposed by the justice system, according

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Virtual Reality Behind Bars For Real Change

Virtual reality technologies could have a wide range of applications for the education and rehabilitation of prisoners. Already a hot topic in the gaming world, virtual and augmented reality technologies are slowly spilling into other venues, such as museum exhibits and educational institutions. But could these technologies someday be used behind bars? In prisons, where education

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Books Behind Bars Mean Better Outcomes

Prisoners who participate in educational programs have 43 percent lower odds of returning to prison compared to those who don’t.  Evidence is overwhelming, prisoners benefit in myriad ways when they have access to books and education. An increase in education of any kind is connected to reducing recidivism, as reported by the 2013 Rand Corporation

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DOJ Investigates Possible Prisoners’ Rights Violations in Alabama

The Alabama prison system has been targeted in numerous lawsuits claiming denial of inmate rights. The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched a statewide probe on whether conditions in Alabama’s 14 prisons for men violate the rights of inmates. The investigation is under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons

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