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Maryland Bail Reform Backfires, Drives Up Number of Inmates

A handful of states have eliminated the traditional money bail system, hoping to reduce their inmate population and avoid harming low-income defendants. But one recent study claims bail reform not only doesn’t always work but can prove counter-productive to its professed goals. In 2016, five Maryland state legislators, all opposed to the current bail system,

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House Easily Clears First Step Prison Reform Act, but Will Senate?

Four days after the White House prison reform summit (See “White House Summit Pushes for Action on the “First Step” Act” on christopherzoukis.com for more information), and 10 days after clearing the House Judiciary Committee on a 25-5 vote, the “First Step” Act (H.R. 5628) easily passed the House of Representative on a 360-59 vote.

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House Committee Takes “First Step” on Prison Reform

The House Judiciary Committee on May 9 approved, by a 25-5 margin, the Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act (H.R. 5682), known for short as the “First Step” Act. Sponsored by Reps. Doug Collins (R-GA) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), the measure is a pared-down revision of the Prison Reform and Corrections Act

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Texas Could Shape Trump’s Proposals to Reform Federal Prisons

Second in size behind Alaska, and trailing just California and New York in population, the state of Texas may turn out to be the biggest of all when it comes to influencing how the Trump administration shapes its proposals and strategy on criminal justice reform. A few years ago, it looked like the time might

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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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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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