The Louisiana Senate has just passed H.B. 138, which will enable some prisoners to go before a parole board upon turning 60. The board can then decide to grant parole to those individuals it determines would pose no danger to the community upon release. Louisiana’s House of Representatives passed the bill two weeks ago. It now heads to the desk of Gov. Bobby Jindal, and we hope that he will go along with the will of the legislature.
H.B. 138 addresses an ongoing problem in Louisiana and across the nation: a growing geriatric population in our prisons, most of whom pose little to no risk to public safety, and cost taxpayers three times as much to imprison, on average, as younger inmates.
June 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon's declaration of a "war on drugs" — a war that has cost roughly a trillion dollars, has produced little to no effect on the supply of or demand for drugs in the United States, and has contributed to making America the world's largest incarcerator. Throughout the month, check back daily for posts about the drug war, its victims and what needs to be done to restore fairness and create effective policy.
By Rebecca McCray, ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project at 12:26pm
June 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon's declaration of a "war on drugs" — a war that has cost roughly a trillion dollars, has produced little to no effect on the supply of or demand for drugs in the United States, and has contributed to making America the world's largest incarcerator. Throughout the month, check back daily for posts about the drug war, its victims and what needs to be done to restore fairness and create effective policy.
On Friday, Louisiana’s H.B. 138, which would give inmates age 60 and older the right to have a hearing before a parole board to determine whether they could be safely released, heads to the Senate floor. This bill addresses an ongoing problem in Louisiana and across the nation: A growing geriatric population in our prisons, most of whom pose little to no risk to public safety, and cost taxpayers three times as much to imprison, on average, as younger inmates. Louisiana’s House of Representatives has already voted 65-25 in favor the bill.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the state of California to reduce its prison population in order to alleviate extreme overcrowding that endangers the health and safety of the state's prisoners and prison staff. The decision in Brown v. Plata affirms a lower court ruling in two long-running cases in which the medical and mental health care provided in California's prisons was found to be so deficient that it endangers the lives of prisoners and violates the U.S. Constitution's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. The ACLU filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case before the Supreme Court.
Prisoners across America are getting older, experiencing all the same ailments that afflict those of the same age who aren't behind bars. Extreme sentencing policies and a growing number of life sentences without the possibility of parole have effectively turned many of our correctional facilities into veritable nursing homes — and we're paying for it.
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By Amy Fettig, ACLU National Prison Project at 10:24am
Yesterday, the ACLU and a broad coalition of civil rights and religious groups called on Attorney General Eric Holder to take a stand for safe, humane, and effective criminal justice in the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) when he selects its new director. Our message: the BOP is an agency in crisis that requires a director capable of leading it through a time of transition, renewal and cultural change.
On Friday, I joined legislators and lawyers from all sides of the political spectrum to help launch the American Bar Association's (ABA) initiative to "Save States Money, Reform Criminal Justice, and Keep the Public Safe." I spoke about the urgent need for smart reforms to our criminal justice system — alongside members of Right on Crime (a conservative group led by Newt Gingrich), district attorneys, chief justices, and Mark Earley (former Republican Virginia Attorney General and CEO of faith-based Prison Fellowship Ministries).
By Rebecca McCray, ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project at 5:17pm
Today, the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. With over 2.3 million men and women living behind bars, our imprisonment rate is the highest it’s ever been in U.S. history. And yet, our criminal justice system has failed on every count: public safety, fairness and cost-effectiveness. Across the country, the criminal justice reform conversation is heating up. Each week, we feature our some of the most exciting and relevant news in overincarceration discourse that we’ve spotted from the previous week. Check back weekly for our top picks.
On Friday, I joined legislators and lawyers from all sides of the political spectrum to help launch the American Bar Association's (ABA) initiative to "