On Larry King Live, Judith Miller praised the Alexandria jail staff and did not disclose any gritty details of her jail conditons beyond the constant noise and discombulating effect of the everpresent glare of the lights. Any seasoned criminal defense lawyer watching the show realized there is a book worth of humiliating details she chose not to share with CNN's audience.

For whatever reason, Miller has chosen to share them with New York Post gossip columnist Cindy Adams. Not only are Miller's comments in quotes, meaning they are her exact words, they ring true to what defense lawyers hear from hundreds of their clients.

The Justice Department released a new report today.

Nearly 7 million adults were in U.S. prisons or on probation or parole at the end of last year, 30 percent more than in 1995, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

That was about one in every 31 adults under correctional supervision at the end of 2004, compared with about 1 in 36 adults in 1995 and about 1 adult in every 88 in 1980, said Allan J. Beck, who oversaw the preparation of the department's annual report on probation and parole populations.

Sentencing "reforms" of the 1990's reportedly are the cause.

The Justice Department's press release is here. The full report is available here.

A court in Iowa has upheld Gov. Tom Vilsack's executive order restoring voting rights to felony offenders who have served their sentences.

"The ruling by Judge Darbyshire confirms that the executive order I signed on July 4th was in compliance with the state constitution and that allowing ex-offenders who have discharged their sentence, probation or parole the right to vote is within the authority of the governor's office," Vilsack said in a statement released Friday evening.

More news on the decision is here. Background and our praise for Gov. Vilsack's order is here.

by TChris

Are judges more likely than they once were to send women to prison?

Women made up 7 percent of inmates in state and federal prisons last year and accounted for nearly one in four arrests, the government reported Sunday. ... In 1995, women made up 6.1 percent of inmates in those facilities.

Overall, the population of our prison nation grew 1.9 percent in 2004, with 2,267,787 individuals behind bars.

A jury has ruled against Roderick Johnson in his lawsuit against 6 Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials for not intervening to protect him after repeated rapes in a Texas prison. Background on the case is here.

A gay, black man, Johnson reportedly was raped by more than one hundred men--nearly every day for 18 months.

It was a legal struggle for Johnson to even get his case to Court. Ultimately, the ACLU was able to persuade the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that he had a right to bring it. The court ruled:

by TChris

A federal court has recognized that prisons can’t prevent a female inmate from exercising her constitutional right to an abortion, even if the state adopts a rule that prohibits the expenditure of state funds to transport the woman to a hospital for that purpose. The ruling only makes sense, given the captive woman’s inability to drive herself to the hospital.

"The law is now well established that federal courts have declared that a woman has a constitutional right to choose to terminate a pregnancy rather than carry the pregnancy to term," Chief District Judge Dean Whipple wrote in an order filed in federal court for Western Missouri. "It is also clearly established that these rights of the woman survive incarceration."

(via How Appealing)

by TChris

Adam Liptak continues his extraordinary analysis of our prison nation in today’s NY Times, specifically focusing on the 9,700 prisoners who are “serving life sentences for crimes they committed before they could vote, serve on a jury or gamble in a casino — in short, before they turned 18.” The number of juvenile offenders serving life sentences has increased significantly in the past decade as legislators have searched for new ways to posture themselves as “tough on crime.” Tough on children would be a more honest campaign slogan.

by TChris

The conservative argument against parole -- that it somehow cheats the public by permitting offenders to escape the full weight of a sentence -- underappreciates the leveling force that a parole authority exerts against disparate sentences. Conservative politicians say they value uniformity in sentencing, but they prefer to limit sentencing discretion by narrowing the range of sentences that judges may impose or by requiring minimum sentences. That philosophy has prevailed in Congress and in most state legislatures for a quarter century, but it has ratcheted up the time that offenders serve while doing little to eliminate disparate sentencing.

The sentencing philosophy of conservative politicians holds that rehabilitation is inachievable, that good conduct in prison deserves no reward, and that punishment and public protection are the only legitimate goals of incarceration. That policy leads to draconian sentences and increasingly fills prisons with elderly, nonthreating individuals who will die behind bars.

As today's must read article demonstrates, the elimination of parole for life sentences -- the proliferation of "life means life" laws -- has turned prisons into nursing homes and elder care centers.

When a Senator decides to run for President, like Joe Biden, it's only fair that we examine what he has done as Senator for those in his home state. Read this article on the AIDS epidemic that is rampant in Delaware prisons - it is the cause of death of one of every four inmates who die there. Where is Biden? Has he introduced federal legislation to help them?

There's another reason to read this article. This isn't only happening in Delaware, although for the past two years Delaware has the worst record in the country.

Roderick Johnson is finally getting his day in court. His suit against Texas prison authorities, brought by the ACLU, begins Monday.

After enduring 18 months in a Texas prison where gangs bought and sold him as a sexual slave, Roderick Johnson will appear in federal district court Monday for the first day of his civil trial against the prison officials who failed to protect him, the American Civil Liberties Union announced today.

"Roderick Johnson was brutally raped by prison gang members," said Margaret Winter, Associate Director of the ACLU's National Prison Project and Johnson's lead attorney. "The devastating horror of the first rape was multiplied many times over the next 18 months because prison officials refused to intervene to protect him."

Johnson was raped by more than 100 men during his 18 months in prison. TalkLeft's prior coverage of the case is here and here.

A pre-publication, 40% discount offer has been extended until September 21 for Alan Ellis' indispensable Federal Prison Guidebook (pdf). First published in 1998, this is the best one yet. Not only does it include a listing of all federal prisons and updated information, but it also contains a much expanded chapter on practice tips, an updated and revised chapter on “How to Do Time,” a new chapter on “How to Secure a Favorable Prison Placement,” an article entitled “Getting Out Early: The Bureau of Prisons Drug Program,” a user friendly listing of all federal prisons that contain the BOP RDAP program and more. It will be sent out in late October.

A retarded man upon whom a jury declined to impose the death penalty has been killed by another inmate in an Indiana prison. The prosecutor called it "poetic justice." The cop on the case said, "I see it as a higher court passing judgment...I think he got what he had coming."

Where do these prosecutors and cops come from?