|
|
| Two bills offer true reform to federal corrections system |
| By thehill.com- Craig DeRoche |
| Published: 05/19/2015 |
|
In the wake of a series of high-profile, police-related incidents across the country, members of Congress have proposed an ever-increasing number of criminal justice reform bills. This has resulted in a spate of news stories touting Washington’s bipartisan “momentum” for criminal justice reform. Yet I fear that with so many competing options on the table, we may miss this important window of opportunity because we haven’t prioritized what our nation really needs. I would respectfully suggest that Congress can best lead the nation to true criminal justice reform by first addressing the federal corrections system. The grave overcrowding of federal prisons prompted Congress to create the Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections late last year. This nine-person, bipartisan, blue-ribbon task force chaired by former Rep. J.C. Watts (R-Okla.) is mandated to examine challenges in the federal corrections system and develop practical, data-driven policy responses in a report due to Congress in January 2016. This week the Colson Task Force held its third public meeting and released a new data brief, which documents that facilities in the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) house 30 percent more people than they were designed to safely hold. This overcrowding is concentrated in facilities with the highest security levels, with high-security facilities at 52 percent over capacity and medium-security facilities with a 39 percent overage. Read More. |
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think