NewsNews
Prison Statistics
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- Published on Wednesday, 05 February 2014 12:10
- Written by AFA
There is an interesting article on the AlterNet website comparing incarceration statistics of the US vs. other countries.
Click here to read the article.
Stuck In Jail
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- Published on Wednesday, 05 February 2014 11:51
- Written by Becky Cox
In county jails, 6 out of 10 inmates are stuck behind bars not because of any risk to the outside community or the likelihood they would fail to appear in court, but because they were unable to afford their bail bond.
Click here to read the article.
Jason Hernandez
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- Published on Wednesday, 05 February 2014 11:48
- Written by AFA
Jason Hernandez was one of eight federal prisoners convicted of crack cocaine offenses whose sentences were recently commuted by President Obama. Hernandez was scheduled to die behind bars for selling crack cocaine when he was 21 years old. At the time of his conviction there was a 100-to-1 difference between sentences for powder and crack cocaine. His supplier was sentenced to 12 years in jail, but the judge had to sentence Jason Hernandez to life behind bars due to mandatory sentencing requirements.
Click here to read the article.
"Kids For Cash"
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- Published on Wednesday, 05 February 2014 11:35
- Written by AFA
Democracy Now interviewed Jamie Quinn who caught up in Pennsylvania's corrupt "kids for cash" judicial system when he was 14 years old. We wrote about this story earlier but to refresh your memory, Judge Mark Ciavarella was convicted of accepting bribes for putting juveniles into detention centers operated by PA Child Care and a sister company, Western Pennsylvania Child Care.
Click here to read the interview.
Private Prison Reform
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- Published on Wednesday, 05 February 2014 11:19
- Written by AFA
The largest private prison in Idaho will be taken over by the state due to a decade of mismanagement by Corrections Corporation of America, a private company from Nashville, Tennessee.
Click here to read the article.
Michael Morton An Innocent Man
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- Published on Wednesday, 18 December 2013 19:19
- Written by AFA
Michael Morton spent 25 years in prison and lost the privilege of raising his young son because the prosecutor withheld critical evidence that would have exonerated him in the murder of his wife. Unfortunately being innocent isn't enough as Michael states "Innocent people think that if you just tell the truth then you've got nothing to fear from the police, if you just stick to it that the system will work, it'll all come to light, everything will be fine."
Click here to read more about Michael Morton.
Federal Prison Crisis
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- Published on Wednesday, 18 December 2013 18:42
- Written by AFA
The federal prison system has been determined to be an "increasingly critical threat" according to the inspector general of the Justice Department. In a report released by the Justice Department the costs of overcrowded prisons continue to soar, grabbing an increasing portion of the budget. Michael Horowitz, the DOJ inspector general states "In the current era of flat or declining budgets, the continued growth of the prison system budget poses a threat to the Department’s other critical programs – including those designed to protect national security, enforce criminal laws, and defend civil rights."
Click here to read more.
Triple the Time For Court Trials
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- Published on Thursday, 05 December 2013 19:30
- Written by AFA
A new Human Rights Watch study of federal prosecutions and sentences has found a disturbing trend that Americans fighting drug charges in federal courts are given three times as long a sentence when compared to people accepting guilty pleas.
Click here to read more.
Reporter's Unbiased Look Aids In Exoneration
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- Published on Monday, 11 November 2013 18:16
- Written by AFA
The wrongfully accused need all the help they can get so, when reporter Erin Moriarty of "48 Hours" felt the evidence didn't add up in the Ryan Ferguson case it gave his case the national attention and scrutiny that most innocent inmates rarely have. Ryan credits Erin Moriarty for looking at the case from an unbiased view, something that usually isn't done before, during or after trials. Maybe this is a type of reform that's needed.
Click here to watch an interview with Ryan talking about the importance of unbiased eyes.
