Supreme Court Hears Challenge to Double-Jeopardy Exception

On December 6, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Gamble v. United States, raising the issue of whether sometimes defendants can face separate trials, and possible conviction and sentencing, for the same violation in both state and federal courts, despite the Constitution’s provision against double jeopardy. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides,

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Highlights from the Prison Education Project’s Spring Evaluation Report

The Prison Education Project (PEP) utilizes faculty volunteers and university students to provide education in 12 California correctional institutions. PEP has reached 6,000 inmates since 2011, making this initiative the most extensive volunteer-based prison education program in America. The ultimate goal of PEP is to flip the school-to-prison pipeline around, creating instead a prison-to-school pipeline

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Federal Judge Rules County Jail Must Allow Addict Methadone

A federal judge in Boston has ordered officials at the Essex County House of Correction to allow an incoming inmate to take his doctor-prescribed methadone while he serves a sentence there. It was thought to be the first such order issued by an American judge. Geoffrey Pesce, a 32-year-old resident of Ipswich, Massachusetts, faces a

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The First Step Act: A Good First Step Indeed!

If it passes, the First Step Act will dramatically change life for thousands of inmates in America and will tackle, head-on, some of the problems that lead people to prison and keep them there. Many long-overdue items in the Act include banning the shackling of pregnant and postpartum women (was a woman in labor ever

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Departing AG Limits DOJ Consent Decrees

Shortly before resigning his post, as requested by President Trump, ex-Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued guidelines for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to follow when seeking consent decrees with police departments or other units of state or local government. The likely result will be to keep DOJ out of state and local law enforcement investigations,

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Praise the Lord for Theology in Prison

Religion is a touchy subject, so what happens when religious education takes place behind prison walls? The goings-on at Nash Correctional Institution (NCI) gives us some insight. Currently, at NCI, 24 inmates are studying for a bachelor’s degree in pastoral ministry. Most of these men will be in prison for life, and the rest have

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Northwestern Prison Education Program Encourages Contemplation

Recently, we discussed the positive role liberal arts education has in prisons. Today, we look closer at the Northwestern Prison Education Program, which provides tuition-free liberal arts degrees to Illinois Stateville Correctional Center (SCC) inmates. Northwestern launched as an institution for higher learning in 1855. Five years prior, nine men sat down together to plan

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No “Making up for Lost Time” When a Prison Cuts Education Short

Ah, prison! That place where men and women go to realize the error of their ways and become fully rehabilitated. It’s where education is offered, training in life skills is provided, and community-minded citizens help with reintegration programs, right? What we just described is the idealized version of the American prison system. Sadly, far from

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Florida Voters Restore Ex-Felons’ Voting Rights

In the November mid-term election, Florida voters approved Amendment 4, the Voting Restoration Amendment, a ballot measure amending the state’s constitution to eliminate a provision that permanently removed the voting rights for well over a million state residents convicted of felonies. The new amendment becomes Article VI, sections 4(a) and (b) of the state constitution,

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Why Teach Liberal Arts in Prison?

Liberal arts. Anyone studying this subject is frequently acquainted with an eye roll followed by, “And how are you supposed to get a job with that?” Liberal arts have a bad rap, and that is highly underserved. The truth is, liberal arts is among one of the oldest courses of study in the world! While

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