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Prison Reform and Redemption Act: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Introduction On July 24, 2017, Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) introduced a bill in the House of Representatives titled the “Prison Reform and Redemption Act” (PRRA).1 The bill is co-sponsored by nine members of the 115th Congress, four of whom are fellow Republicans. According to the text of the proposed legislation, its purpose is “To provide for

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We Know What Works: The Key to Prison Reform

There’s been much talk about prison reform in this country, but to date, not a lot has changed. While prisoner education programs and other reforms are slowly making ground, the U.S. still has the world’s highest prison population, with nearly a half million more in the prison system than China, which ranks second in the

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D.C. Court Rules Warrant Required to Track Cell Phones

A District of Columbia Court of Appeals panel ruled by a 2-1 margin on Sept. 21 that a search warrant is required before police can use cell phone tracking devices. The decision marked the fourth time a state or federal court has come to that conclusion, echoing similar rulings by Maryland’s top court and federal

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Firm, Judge, Sheriff Accused of Bail Fee Extortion

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center have joined to file a federal civil rights and anti-racketeering class-action lawsuit which claims a Louisiana district judge, the East Baton Rouge sheriff, and a firm that monitors criminal defendants released on bail while awaiting trial acted together to force defendants to pay hundreds

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Prisons Under Trump: Going Forward, Backward or Standing Still?

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SEEMS DETERMINED TO UNDO PRISON REFORMS LAUNCHED BY PRESIDENT OBAMA. America has a reputation for dehumanizing rather than rehabilitating its prisoners. Jails are crowded beyond manageable levels. Privatization and for-profit measures have pushed more people into incarceration than ever before; for example, those with minor fines and misdemeanors. The prison population has a

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What humanity learned from the Stanford Prison Experiment

The study aimed to discover whether guard brutality reported in American prisons had to do with their sadistic natures or the prison environment. The Stanford prison experiment ended after 6 days when guards began to abuse prisoners, and prisoners began to experience mental breakdowns. It was 46 years ago that psychologist Philp Zimbardo conducted one

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Federal Prison Population Dropped 13% In Four Years

A new analysis released by the nonprofit Sentencing Project is a classic case of good news and bad news. On one hand, it finds a widespread trend toward lower incarceration levels: the combined state and federal total number of inmates has declined by 4.9% since hitting its peak in 2009, and the Federal Bureau of

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BOP Education Program Revamp in Doubt as Chief Sacked

In its waning days, Obama administration officials announced plans to expand education efforts in federal prisons and to provide more direction and oversight to the programs previously run separately at each facility. Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced in late November that for the first time, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) had hired an education

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Packed Prisons a Result of Misdirected Focus

By Christopher Zoukis

What is the main objective of prison? To protect the public. How does the system do this? Well, it purports to punish offenders with incarceration while rehabilitating them to function in society. Does this system work? No.

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