The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a section of the newly enacted SAFE-T Act that eliminated cash bail in the state was legal under the state’s constitution. Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis, writing for the majority, stated: The Illinois Constitution of 1970 does not mandate that monetary bail is the only means to ensure [...]
Search Results for: recidivism
US DOJ announces discounts on fines for corporate misconduct self-disclosure
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) Tuesday unveiled changes to its Criminal Division Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy, which includes discounts on fines. Under the policy, if a company voluntarily discloses misconduct to the criminal division in accordance with the prescribed standards, it will receive discounts on criminal fines. Self-disclosure following the standards can [...]
President Biden signs bill mandating 'just and reasonable' phone rates for prisoners
US President Joe Biden Thursday signed a bill reducing the cost of making calls from prisons into law. The Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2021 will direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to enforce guidelines which ensure that payphone providers charge incarcerated people “just and reasonable rates” for phone calls. The signing [...]
Rise of US Mental Health Courts Highlighted in 'Any Given Day' Documentary
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Within the incarcerated population, a disproportionate number suffer from mental illnesses or disabilities. After the deinstitutionalization of mental health resources in the 1960s, many people who suffered from mental illnesses entered the prison system. According to the American Psychological Association “this trend accounts for [...]
Seventh Circuit upholds lifetime GPS monitoring for some convicted sex offenders
The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Tuesday upheld lifetime GPS monitoring for some convicted sex offenders in Wisconsin. The plaintiffs in Braam v. Carr are repeat sex offenders who are subjected to lifetime GPS monitoring as a result of their convictions. The plaintiffs stated that the requirement for lifetime GPS monitoring violated their [...]
Responding to the National Crime Wave: New Framework Needed to Combat Recidivism
For all the talk there has been of the huge increase in crime across the nation, not nearly enough attention has been put on the single greatest reason for the problem: recidivism. It has been fueled by a mindset in our criminal justice system in which levels of crime have arbitrarily been labeled low-level or [...]
President Joe Biden Tuesday pardoned three convicted felons – Abraham Bolden Sr., Betty Jo Bogans and Dexter Jackson – and commuted the prison sentences of 75 others. The individuals granted clemency came at the recommendation of the Department of Justice’s pardon attorney. The first to be pardoned was Abraham Bolden Sr., a former Secret Service [...]
US federal appeals court rules Georgia sheriff violated sex offender constitutional rights
The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Wednesday held that a Georgia sheriff violated sex offenders’ constitutional rights by placing warning signs at their homes during Halloween. Prior to Halloween of 2018, Sheriff Gary Long directed two Butts County deputies to place signs in the front yards of 57 registered sex offenders’ homes. The [...]
How New Zealand's Recent State Agency Restructuring and Legislative Changes are Empowering Māori
New Zealand governments have long been subject to criticism for vesting decision-making power over Māori in Pākehā-driven state agencies. Structural issues dating back to the differences between the English and Māori texts of the 1840 Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi) are one means of explaining the paradigm. While change has been long-demanded, [...]
FCC approves plan to lower interstate and international jail and prison phone call rates
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unanimously voted on Thursday to approve a plan that decreases interstate and international prison and jail phone call rates, making phone calls more affordable. The plan lowers the rate of interstate and international prison and jail phone calls by at least one-third. Prison phone calls cannot exceed 12 cents per [...]