Tag Archives: prison reform

Mother Jones reports: In a rare bipartisan victory, the Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation Tuesday night that seeks to reduce the federal prison population. The First Step Act was approved in an 87-12 vote and will now go to the House, where it is expected to pass. Among the bill’s biggest impacts is the measure to retroactively reduce a major disparity …

The Hill reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Tuesday that he will bring a bipartisan criminal justice bill up for a vote, marking a significant win for the legislation’s supporters, including President Trump. “At the request of the president and following improvements to the legislation that has been secured by several members, the Senate will take up …

The Associated Press reports: Washington state’s Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the death penalty, as applied, violates its Constitution. The ruling Thursday makes Washington the latest state to do away with capital punishment. The court was unanimous in its order that the eight people currently on death row have their sentences converted to life in prison. Five justices said the …

Yahoo News reports: Kanye West has been having a very Kanye West 24 hours. He performed as a giant Perrier bottle on Saturday Night Live, then was cut off at the end of the show during an impromptu pro-Trump speech to awkward silence and a scattered mixture of boos and applause. Which President Trump praised on Twitter. Head spinning yet? …

CBS News reports: New York City unveiled an ambitious plan on Wednesday to replace the notorious Rikers Island jail complex with four smaller lockups located in densely populated neighborhoods, including turning an Art Deco government building that went up in lower Manhattan in 1930 into a tower for up to 1,500 inmates. Mayor Bill de Blasio and other city officials …

The Washington Post reports: 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 …