Probation or Parole

Seven Million -- and Counting

The Bureau of Justice Statistics annual report on use of the criminal justice system has come out, and there is landmark grim news: There are now seven million people under criminal justice control -- in prison or jail, on probation, or or parole -- in the United States. I am having trouble finding a link to the report -- maybe it's not posted yet -- but Phil will be covering this in Drug War Chronicle tonight. So check back for more details on the bad news...

Sentencing: South Carolina Governor Signs Reform Bill, Will End Mandatory Minimums for Some Drug Offenses

You know times are tough when even GOP-dominated legislatures in the Deep South are passing sentencing reform bills. It's not so much bleeding hearts as bleeding wallets.

Sentencing: California Appeals Court Upholds Ban on Probationer's Medical Marijuana Use

A California judge can order a medical marijuana patient to hand in his ID card and give up his medicine if he wants to go on probation instead of to prison, an appeals court has ruled in a 2-1 decision. The ruling provoked a harsh dissent.

Medical Marijuana: Will Foster Extradited to Oklahoma

In the latest ugly twist in the Will Foster saga, the medical marijuana patient has been extradited back to Oklahoma so the Sooner State can extract a few more pounds of flesh -- and a few more years in prison for growing a plant.

Feature: Censorship in South Dakota -- Marijuana Activist Silenced By Judge as Condition of Probation

South Dakota's loudest voice for marijuana law reform has just been silenced. In imposing a sentence for a marijuana possession conviction, a Rapid City judge has ordered Bob Newland to shut up about legalizing it.

Sentencing: Louisiana Bill to Allow Parole for Heroin Lifers Passes Full House, Senate Committee

For years, heroin offenders in Louisiana faced draconian sentences of life without parole. The legislature changed that a few years ago, but didn't act to free the remaining "heroin lifers." It may get around to it this year.

Incarceration: Too Many Americans Behind Bars at Too High a Cost, Says Pew Study

The Pew Center on the States has released a report noting that 1 in 31 Americans is either in jail or prison or on probation or parole. Although two-thirds of them are probationers or parolees, it is prisons that are gobbling up the corrections budget. That needs to change, the report said.