Pennsylvania is poised to become the first state in the nation to limit access to criminal records for certain nonviolent offenders. In April, the Pennsylvania General Assembly took up the consideration of bills that aim to help ex-offenders reintegrate into society without the permanent stigma of a criminal record. Under the Clean Slate Act, people […]
Incarceration
Posted inLaw and Justice
Getting Beyond Prison: A Vermont Case Study
The federal sentencing reform advancing in Congress would expand programs designed to cut recidivism among released offenders. One state thinks it’s found a solution—give former prisoners a circle of volunteer supporters.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Lawmakers Push For Sentencing Reform Ahead of Elections
A bipartisan reform measure could shrink the federal prison population by 60,000—if it can pass the Senate before November.Â
Posted inBooks
Shall We Be Released?
The mass folly of mass incarceration and the road back to sane prison policy.Â
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
‘Cuddling Up to Criminals’: Criminal-Justice Reform at CPAC
As reform gains momentum on the right, conservatives at CPAC clash over how far it should go.Â
Posted inLaw and Justice
Justice Department Fails to Criminally Prosecute a Big Bank — Again
Last week, the Justice Department announced that it had reached a $470 million settlement with mega-bank HSBC related to mortgage lending and foreclosure fraud that led to the economic collapse of 2008. “This settlement illustrates the department’s continuing commitment to ensure responsible mortgage servicing,” Benjamin Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said in […]
Posted inLaw and Justice
New Mexico Bucks Criminal Justice Reform Trends, Moves Toward Harsher Penalties
Proponents of tough-on-crime policies aren’t throwing in the towel just yet. In late January, the Republican-controlled New Mexico House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill that would expand the number of violent felonies punishable under the state’s “three-strikes” law. Currently, New Mexico law mandates a life sentence for repeat offenders convicted of three separate violent […]
Posted inCivil Rights in America
After Incarceration, What Next?
Sentencing overhauls would shrink the nation’s prison population, but those released from jail face multiple hurdles to employment, housing, and social services.
Posted inLaw and Justice
Prisoner Proliferation
When most of us think of convicts at work, we picture them banging out license plates or digging ditches. Those images, however, are now far too limited to encompass the great range of jobs that America’s prison workforce is performing. If you book a flight on TWA, you’ll likely be talking to a prisoner at […]
Posted inWorking in America
Captive Labor
The old prison labor was chain gangs and license plates. The new prison labor is contracts with corporate America to employ inmates at less-than-minimum wage.