Long Sentences News Today

Passing the Earned Time Act means the Laborers’ Local 210 and other unions can recruit and retain more formerly incarcerated people for our job openings, without compromising public safety, writes

After 12 years behind bars, Markus Lanieux thought he had a deal for his release. Then Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry filed a legal challenge that could derail hope for those imprisoned under the state's "three strikes" sentencing rules.

The first people to make use of a new state law on sealing criminal records are set to go before a judge today. Previously, only people whose conviction did not result in incarceration could petition for expungement. Jay Jordan, CEO of the nonprofit Alliance for Safety and Justice, which pushed for the law, will ask a judge in Stockton to seal his decades-old robbery conviction, and added Senate Bill 731 will give people who have paid their dues a clean slate. ...

Prosecutors should be able to review old cases that no longer align with the best...

Among Pontiac Prison’s challenges is its status as the most short-staffed facility in IDOC. But former director Rob Jeffreys said having a lower incarceration rate could work in the agency’s favor.

Kentucky incarcerated more than 32,000 people in 2022 in both local jails and state prisons, a 250% jump from the mid-1980s, according to a new website tracking mass incarceration in the Commonwealth. Ashley Spalding, research director for the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, said those numbers dont include the thousands of Kentuckians being held in federal prisons, or who are locked into the criminal-justice system because they owe fines and fees. "Kentucky criminalizes far too m...

By Sonali Kolhatkar for Yes!Magazine.Broadcast version by Mike Moen for Minnesota News Connection reporting for the YES! Media-Public News Service Collaboration The United States incarcerates more people than nearly any other country in the world. Among the millions in detention at any given time are hundreds of thousands being held in jails. ...

A new report from a bipartisan panel of criminal justice experts questions whether sending people to prison for 10 years or more is necessary or cost-effective.

A new report outlines ways that states like Virginia could rethink long prison sentences and how to use them more sparingly. The Council on Criminal Justice Task Force on Long Sentences makes a series of policy recommendations for more judicial discretion in sentencing, and for promoting more individual accountability. They focus on allocating more resources to rehabilitation, through behavioral healthcare or trauma services. ...

Utah teens can no longer use social media platforms without explicit approval from a parent or guardian, per new measures that Republican Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox signed into law yesterday.