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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: prison population

prison population stories: 9 news summaries

(Newser) - A plan to slash the number of inmates by 27,000 could sink California's long-delayed budget deal, the Los Angeles Times reports. Angry Republican state lawmakers threatened to back out of the agreement after learning of the plan, which would give prison officials authority to let any inmate over 60... More »

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California • California legislature • Arnold Schwarzenegger • state spending • prison population • budget gap • state budgets

(Newser) - The collective freak-out over closing Guantanamo proves that Americans do care about prisons and prisoners, but Gitmo “is a mere speck in the eye of America’s larger prison program,” writes Dahlia Lithwick in Newsweek. That’s why Sen. Jim Webb of the “lock ‘em... More »

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prison • Guantanamo Bay • mental illness • prison system • James Webb • inmates • prison population

Number of
Blacks Jailed
for Drugs Declines

But number of white inmates increases

Apr 14, 09 5:52 PM CDT
(Newser) - A profound shift may be under way in the racial makeup of the nation's prison population, the Washington Post reports. For the first time in 20 years, the number of blacks imprisoned for drug offenses is falling sharply while the number of whites is rising, the Washington Post reports.... More »

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drugs • African Americans • sentencing • jail • crystal meth • crack cocaine • prison population • white people • blacks

glossies

 Recession to Unlock 
 Wave of Ex-Cons 


Mar 7, 09 4:54 AM CST
(Newser) - Thousands of prisoners around the country will have the recession to thank for setting them free, Ken Steir writes in Time. With California planning to release nearly 160,000 prisoners from under-funded, overcrowded prisons, and other states transferring drug convicts to rehab, the US is likely to see a wave... More »

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recession • prison system • job market • inmates • prison population • prisoner • Bill Maher Grid

Black Leaders Pin High Hopes on New AG

Civil rights advocates see opportunity for change under Holder

Feb 5, 09 9:23 AM CST
(Newser) - For decades, black men have been arrested, convicted, and sentenced to execution at disproportionate rates. Now, with the appointment of the country's first African-American attorney general, black leaders are hoping Eric Holder will help the Justice Department reform what they see as a broken system. "The most important thing... More »

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Department of Justice • civil rights • racial profiling • prison population • attorney general • African-Americans • Eric Holder • Obama administration

1 in 100 Americans in Prison

'Tough on crime' proving expensive stance as state resources dwindle, study reports

Feb 28, 08 2:45 PM CST
(Newser) - One American adult out of 100 is incarcerated, a new study shows—the first time in US history such a high proportion of the population is behind bars. The Pew Center on the States reports the nationwide prison population grew by 25,000 last year, to 1.6 million, with... More »

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California • Department of Justice • FBI • Texas • prison • prison system • prisoners • jail • prison population • Pew Center on the States • race in prison • Paul Cassell • nonviolent offenders

Calif. Crunch May Force Drastic Cuts

State might slash education funds,
free inmates early

Dec 22, 07 7:22 PM CST
(Newser) - California's dire financial straits may force the early release of 30,000 low-risk inmates and bring drastic cuts in education, the Los Angeles Times reports. Arnold Schwarzenegger will declare a fiscal emergency next month as the state wrestles with a $14.5 billion budget gap. The governor has ordered agencies... More »

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education • California • Arnold Schwarzenegger • state spending • inmates • prison population • school budget • California Senate Budget Committee • Los Angeles Unified School District • Proposition 98 • budget deficit • state sales tax • teacher

Filling Jails Doesn't
Cut Crime

Study concludes that  longer sentences don't make streets safer

Nov 20, 07 6:23 AM CST
(Newser) - Getting tough on criminals through longer prison terms—at an annual cost of tens of billions of US taxpayer dollars—hasn't made a major impact on crime, concludes a study released yesterday. The US prison population has increased 800% since 1970—giving the nation has the world's highest incarceration rate—... More »

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Department of Justice • prison • crime • prison system • Drug Enforcement Administration • drug abuse • violent crime • prison population

Packed Prisons 'Costly Failure'

Report calls for shorter sentences, quicker paroles, aid on release

Nov 20, 07 2:45 AM CST
(Newser) - America's prisons, crammed with 2.2 million inmates, are an expensive failure, according to a report by a Washington criminal justice research group. The JFA Institute calls for shorter sentences and parole terms, alternative punishments and decriminalizing recreational drugs—steps that would cut the prison population in half and save... More »

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Department of Justice • prison • parole • recreational drugs • JFA Institute • George Soros • Open Society Institute • James Austin • prison population

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