Prisons

April 9, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Barack Obama released the following statement today on President Bush signing the Second Chance Act (H.R. 1593) into law. Obama is a cosponsor of this legislation.

"Every year, too many American lives are permanently disrupted when they enter the criminal justice system. In many cases, the lack of job training and support programs in prison means that those who are released fail to become fully rehabilitated.

Barack Obama Hope poster: Photo by Steve Rhodes (CC)    » read more »

20-03-2008 -- Geneva (ICRC) – Despite international efforts to curb tuberculosis, this infectious disease is on the rise.

Prisons have to be at the centre of national TB control programmes, as they are a breeding ground for tuberculosis, and particularly for drug-resistant forms of the disease, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes TB infection, as seen through electron microscope    » read more »

March 17, 2008 -- MONTGOMERY -- Alabama Governor Bob Riley wants the state to involve faith- and community-based organizations in helping prisoners who are returning to society so the ex-convicts avoid a relapse into a life of crime.

The Governor is launching a program called the Community Partnership for Recovery and Reentry, which will actively engage faith-based organizations and community groups to provide pre-release and post-release support for the ex-prisoners and the communities they are returning to as they complete their prison sentences.    » read more »

Washington, DC - 02/28/2008 - For the first time in history more than one in every 100 adults in America are in jail or prison—a fact that significantly impacts state budgets without delivering a clear return on public safety. According to a new report released today by the Pew Center on the States’ Public Safety Performance Project, at the start of 2008, 2,319,258 adults were held in American prisons or jails, or one in every 99.1 men and women, according to the study.    » read more »

WASHINGTON, February 28 – More than one in every 100 American adults is in jail or prison, according to new research on the nation’s surging inmate population. The same study also found that Vermont is one of only five states that spends more money on prisons than on higher education.

“Incredibly, with over 2.3 million Americans behind bars, we now have more people in jail than any other country on Earth,” Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said. “In my view, these sad facts reflect a very distorted set of national priorities.    » read more »

January 29, 2008 -- New York Governor Eliot Spitzer today announced the signing of legislation that will enhance the care and treatment of prisoners with serious mental illness by limiting the instances in which these inmates can be placed in segregated confinement.    » read more »

Compromise Would Create State Board of Corrections, Save Taxpayers Money

January 28, 2008 -- AUGUSTA – In negotiations over the weekend, an agreement in principle was reached between Maine Governor John E. Baldacci and representatives of Maine’s counties and sheriffs’ departments over a plan to create a new structure for the State’s Department of Corrections and county jails.    » read more »

Criminal Justice Reforms, New Policies and Procedures Now in Place to Safeguard Public Safety

January 27, 2008 -- Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that she has directed the Board of Pardons and Paroles to begin processing appropriate violent offenders’ applications for parole, now that reforms of the criminal justice system have been put in place as well as new procedures for the Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP) regarding reviews of parole applicants’ files and new Department of Correction (DOC) policies regarding community supervision of parolees.    » read more »

Senate Should End ‘Life Without Parole’ for Juvenile Offenders

Sacramento, January 14, 2008 – California’s State Senate should pass a law this month to end the sentencing of children to prison for life with no possibility of parole, Human Rights Watch said today in a report on a practice outlawed in most of the world.    » read more »

Changes to Penal Code, Board of Pardons and Parole, Victim Services and Information Technology Proposed for January Special Session

January 8, 2008 -- Connecticut Governor M.    » read more »

December 18, 2007 -- Washington, DC – The Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill includes language drafted by U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to ensure that anyone who sexually abuses a person being held in federal custody can be fully prosecuted under federal law.    » read more »

Legislation Reestablishes Fairness for Defendants, Bail Agents

December 18, 2007 -- Washington, DC— Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) introduced the Federal Bail Bond Fairness Act of 2007, legislation that reforms the current federal bail bond system. Today’s bipartisan legislation clarifies for federal courts that bail bonds can only be forfeited for a defendant’s failure to appear in court, not for failure to abide by court-imposed behavioral conditions like curfew or sobriety.    » read more »

12/13/2007 -- California Governor Schwarzenegger today applauded the Corrections Standards Authority (CSA) for unanimously voting to prioritize the point system to award jail funding to counties that site re-entry facilities. Creating secure re-entry facilities is part of the $7.7 billion comprehensive prison reform plan that will add 53,000 beds throughout the state.    » read more »

December 10, 2007 -- Washington, DC – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today co-sponsored the Private Prison Information Act of 2007, legislation introduced by Senator Joe Lieberman to increase transparency and accountability at private prisons. The Private Prison Information Act of 2007 will help to prevent abuse and neglect at private prisons by requiring public disclosure of information about their operations.    » read more »

10 December 2007 -- A mortar attack on a government-run prison in Baghdad has killed at least five Iraqi inmates and wounded more than 20 other people.

An Iraqi security official initially said seven prisoners died in Monday's attack. The U.S. military released a statement saying five detainees died.

Separately, the U.S. military says an oil refinery fire in Baghdad Monday was the result of an industrial accident, not a mortar attack as Iraqi officials initially reported.    » read more »