GovBlog: UC Berkeley » Prison

State Measures to Balance FY 2010 Budgets

Susana Hinojosa — Thu, 07 May 2009 20:00:54 +0000

The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) released on May 4, 2009, State Measures to Balance FY 2010 Budgets, a report that in a series of tables documents the measures (proposed and enacted) that states are taking to close budget gaps. These measures include actions to cut budgets and also generate new revenues. Budget areas or topics include: Criminal Justice, Education, Employee Actions (for example furloughs and layoffs), and Other Actions (purchase freezes, delayed capital projects, agency consolidation, etc.).

United States Congressional Serial Set Now Available through LexisNexis Congressional

Jesse Silva — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:38:56 +0000

UC Berkeley has recently acquired full-text access to the United States Congressional Serial Set (1789-1969) through LexisNexis Congressional. The Serial Set contains the legislative history of United States, and also includes many historic agency annual reports, House and Senate Reports, and many other official government documents (for a more complete summary of what is contained in the Serial Set, click here). Prior to this acquisition, citations to the Serial Set found in LexisNexis Congressional had to be searched in the Readex United States Congressional Serial Set database. With this purchase, you can now search LexisNexis Congressional for all your congressional research needs. Off-campus access to LexisNexis Congressional is restricted to current UCB student, faculty and staff, though anyone in the Library may access the database.

California Prison Health Care Services: Improper Contracting Decisions and Poor Internal Controls

Susana Hinojosa — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:18:07 +0000

This report issued by the California State Auditor is the conclusion of the investigation concerning acquisitions of information technology (IT) goods and services by California Prison Health Care Services (Prison Health Services). The report concludes that staff at Prison Health Services ignored state contracting laws, as well as the alternative contracting requirements established by a federal court when it acquired IT goods and services in a noncompetitive manner from November 2007 through April 2008.

County Probation Camps and Ranches for Juvenile Offenders

Susana Hinojosa — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:55:00 +0000

California Assembly Member Jose Solorio, Chair of the Public Safety Committee requested this report of the California Research Bureau. The report examines the California county camps and ranches in terms of the recent reforms in the state’s juvenile justice system. Different models (wilderness, military, etc.) of camps are included and include information about length of stay requirements and treatment options.

Obama Signs Executive Order to Close Gitmo!

Jesse Silva — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:01:32 +0000

This morning, President Barack Obama signed executive orders to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, review military war crimes trials and ban the harshest interrogation methods. At the time of this posting, the orders are not available on the White House website. When they are available, they will be located on the executive orders page.

Reforming Inmate Education to Improve Public Safety

Susana Hinojosa — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 23:50:37 +0000

The recently published report, Reforming Inmate Education to Improve Public Safety: From Cellblocks to Classrooms, finds that California offers academic and vocational programs to only a small segment of the prison population. In addition the small number of inmate education programs that do exist have a number of problems limiting their effectiveness at reducing recidivism. This LAO report recommends reforms to increase performance, outcomes, and accountability.

New Jersey Death Penalty Repeal

Susana Hinojosa — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:51:46 +0000

The New Jersey Senate approved on Monday December 10th a bill (S-171) that would repeal the death-penalty and replace capital punishment with a criminal sentence of life without parole. The State Assembly is expected to vote on this legislation on Thursday December 13th. The New Jersey Democratic Legislature has put this death-penalty repeal on the fast track and Democratic Governor Jon Corzine has said he would sign the bill. This legislation would make New Jersey the first state to repeal the death penalty since its reinstatement more than 30 years ago. Several other states (Maryland, New Mexico, etc.) are also working on similar legislation.

The Death Penalty Information Center which advocates against the death penalty provides state-by-state information, fact sheets, recent legislative updates, and more.

UN Special Rapporteur Mission to Brazil - Nov. 2007

Susana Hinojosa — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 20:43:49 +0000

The Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, has issued a statement following the end of his visit to Brazil on November 14, 2007.Â The visit included meetings with a wide range of Brazilian officials, heads of military policy,Â visits to a prison in Sao Paulo, a police station in Rio de Janeiro, a settlement in Pernambuco and more. Meetings with key human rights individuals included the UN Country Team, and the Human Rights Commission of the Rio de Janeiro Legislative Assembly. The visit took place within the context of widespread concern about criminal violence in Brazil.Â The statement includes some data in its ‘key concerns’ section, such as: 45,000-50,000 homicides committed per year; in Pernambuco it is estimated that 70% of all homicides are committed by death squads. Preliminary conclusions and recommendations are contained in the statement.

25-Year Quagmire: the War on Drugs and Its Impact on American Society

Tim Dennis — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:21:51 +0000

From Sentencing Project press release:

The report documents how the drug war has produced a record expansion of prison and jail systems and highlights additional indicators of the war’s impact on the criminal justice system and communities, including:

Drug arrests have more than tripled since 1980 to a record 1.8 million by 2005;

Four of five (81.7%) drug arrests were for possession offenses, and 42.6% were for marijuana charges in 2005;

Nearly six in 10 persons in state prison for a drug offense have no history of violence or high-level drug selling;

Only 14% of persons in 2004 who report using drugs in the month before their arrest had participated in a treatment program, a decline of more than half from participation rates in 1991;

A shortage of treatment options in many low-income neighborhoods contributes to drug abuse being treated primarily as a criminal justice problem, rather than a social problem.