Monday, November 26, 2007

News of the Day, Monday, November 26, 2007

  • Folks in AL (Alabama, not Alaska) are trying hard to rein in their prison pop problems and all the negative impact that has on the rest of their crim just budgets, but their inmate totals just keep rising.
  • CO is also dealing with the squeezing the toothpaste tube effect. The gov there has cut back on prison rate increases in order to fund other elements of the crim just sys, like increasing the number of judges, but the counties are not thrilled with the attendant impacts on them. And what if more judges just equals more convictions and sentences to those prisons that aren’t being built now?
  • CT, meanwhile, is grappling with finding state supplied housing for sex offenders on probation or parole once we’ve made it virtually impossible for them to reenter our communities on their own.
  • Speaking of grappling, FL is finding the resolution of the problem of using jails and prisons to house their mentally ill a wee bit difficult.
  • Eye reaction time” now becoming the test of choice in ID for drug offenders on parole or probation.
  • Questions arising about whether mom-and-pop meth labs are popping back up in OK despite the bans on selling acti-fed and its ilk. Law enforcement says no, they’re still in control, but it would make sense since the traffic from Mexico has recently tightened and prices reportedly are going up.
  • Is this the future for all judges? A KS commission to evaluate judicial performance and let voters know at election time. Supposedly will improve “transparency” and encourage continual improvement. I guess that will depend on who’s on the commission and how they get there, won’t it?
  • Finally, victims can be among the most empathetic people on the planet, for the offenders’ families as well as for others. A nice example here of one victim’s efforts to help jurors who have to deal with psychologically difficult evidence after the trial. Would make a good model to follow elsewhere if you’re not already doing it.

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