More than a decade ago, policymakers around the country seeking to protect public safety, improve accountability, and save taxpayer dollars initiated a wave of bipartisan reforms that has reduced the number of people behind bars in many states. Because of their high costs and visibility, prisons garnered substantial public attention on criminal justice, while relatively little was paid to the largest…
The caseload keeping him busy is one of several things Kenny Jones likes about his role as chairman of Missouri’s Board of Probation and Parole. As of right now, the (normally) seven-member board, which falls under the state Department of Corrections, is down to five because of retirements. “The more people who look at a case, the better,” Jones said,…
If you have been arrested and processed through a jail (this does not apply to the state or private prisons) in Arizona in the past 18 months and had your cash taken from you at the time of arrest, and then returned to you on a debit card where you were then charged fees to access your own money, the…
The Justice Department plans to end its use of private prisons after officials concluded the facilities are both less safe and less effective at providing correctional services than those run by the government. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates announced the decision on Thursday in a memo that instructs officials to either decline to renew the contracts for private prison operators when…