Latinos and Native Americans were more likely to be denied access to “good time” benefits during their incarcerations in federal prisons when compared with White and African American offenders, and Asian inmates fared better than all groups in obtaining access to these benefits, according to a study by researchers at Sam Houston State University.
Pelican Bay Prison in California was designed as one of the first “supermax” facilities in response to a perceived risk of black radicalism in the 1970s. Extreme conditions sparked statewide hunger strikes in 2011 and 2013 involving up to 30,000 inmates, which led to a rise in the use of solitary confinement.
Offenders with federal immigration detainers received significantly shorter sentences in state courts than those that did not face deportation, except in cases involving life or death sentences, researchers found.
Restorative justice programs, such victim-offender mediation and community impact panels, are more effective in reducing recidivism rates among juvenile offenders than traditional court processing, a study by researchers at Sam Houston State University found.
As the new President of the American Jail Association, Alumnus Wayne Dicky continues to stress the importance of ongoing education for jail professionals.
The Correctional Management Institute of Texas (CMIT) is offering adult and juvenile institutional and probation officers a new approach to help offenders stay out of trouble.
Called Decision Points, the program features intensive training for correctional staff to implement a cognitive-behavioral intervention to break the cycle of trouble. It teaches offenders to examine their thoughts and feelings, to think about who cares what they do, to identify choices, and to pinpoint a motivating thought to do their best to succeed.
