ID - Changes In Drug Sentencing Laws

BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- A bill that would give Idaho judges greater discretion to keep drug addicts out of prison even if they've been convicted of drug-dealing crimes will get a full hearing before the House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee.

It's a modest effort to loosen Idaho's mandatory sentences for drug offenses and ease overcrowding in the state's prisons.

Rep. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, who joined with three Republicans to sponsor the bill, told the committee Monday that most people convicted of drug-trafficking crimes deserve stiff sentences. Those only marginally involved in drug dealing because of their addictions, however, should get a second chance to get clean and stay out of prison.

"For these rare instances, this will allow for an alternative sentence by judges," she said. "If treatment is provided, that provides the best chance of recovering."

Idaho now has 7,400 people behind bars. More than half of them are there due to drug-related offenses. The state has shipped about 500 people to other states because there's no more room in prisons in Idaho.

Under the bill, judges could opt for shorter, treatment-focused sentences for addicts convicted of drug-dealing crimes, on the presumption that if they get clean they're less likely to re-offend. Currently, Idaho has mandatory sentences for a range of drug-trafficking offenses that give judges little or no discretion. Many sentences entail at least three to five years in prison.

The Denver Post

UT - Committee Funds Prison College Ed

The Salt Lake Tribune Article Last Updated: 02/12/2008

The Senate Education Committee on Monday approved a bill that would fund postsecondary education for 479 prison inmates currently enrolled in college classes.
Rep. Jack Draxler, R-North Logan, sponsor of HB86, told colleagues his bill does not expand educational opportunities for Utah's inmates. Rather, the $1.5 million it appropriates would help stabilize existing postsecondary educational programs for inmates. Inmates must pay between 40 and 90 cents per dollar of their tuition based on their pay rate while working in prison, he said.
Educating inmates saves taxpayers' money in the long run by reducing recidivism to as much as 16 percent, Draxler said.

Real Cost Of Prison

Teen Felony Murder Sentencing Reduction

Teenage accomplices in crimes that led to murder could get less jail time under a bill that passed the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday on a 4-3 party-line vote.

Current law requires first-degree-murder charges and life in prison for juveniles who are accomplices to murder. This bill would not be retroactive for children who are already sentenced under the old law.

DENVER -- Should juveniles convicted of felony murder have to spend the rest of their lives behind bars if they weren't the assailant?

Right now, Colorado judges have no choice. Felony murder carries a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.But some state lawmakers said current law is too strict and that some juveniles could benefit from a second chance."Do we, and when do we give them a second chance?" asked state Sen. Suzanne Williams, D-Arapahoe County.Williams is sponsoring a bill that would reduce first-degree murder to a class two felony if the defendant was under 18 years of age at the time of the offense, and did not commit or assist in committing the homicidal act.

The proposal would make a defendant convicted of class two felony first-degree murder eligible for sentencing to the youthful offender system.The policy director of the Colorado Defense Bar said recidivism rates are lower for kids who get rehabilitative treatment instead of just spending time behind bars.

Maureen Cain said that according to the Centers For Disease Control, it's a public health issue."Brains don't develop when they're locked up and not challenged," Cain said. "If you have them (juveniles) in a program where they learn and are challenged and they feel nurtured and they feel supported, then their brain will continue its front lobe development and you will get a healthier adult and an adult who won't recidivate."Williams said there are 48 juveniles who have been sentenced to life without parole in Colorado.

Among them, Curtis Brooks. He was 15 years old when he and two friends stole a car in Aurora, while the owner was getting some cash at an ATM. One of the other boys shot and killed the motorist, then pleaded guilty by reason of insanity.Brooks is serving a life sentence even though someone else pulled the trigger.Williams’ bill would give judges another option in future cases like Brooks’“This bill has led to a lot of emotional turmoil,” said Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Larimer County.“Sometimes it seems like it’s not the Department of Corrections, but the Department of Retribution,” Bacon said. “Certainly I want safety for the public.”After being amended to omit sex offenders, the proposal passed by a slim 4-3 vote Monday afternoon in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

It now goes on to the Appropriations Committee.Williams said, if this bill becomes law, it would only apply to future cases, not to juveniles currently serving life terms in the Department of Corrections.

The Denver Post

Love Is A Drug

In celebration of Valentines Week I am posting the "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" post from the Situationist.

Have you ever been obsessed with, wild for, smitten by, hot for, or crazy about someone? What about a crush or an infatuation? Do you recall how you were unable to think of anything but that other person? How ’bout the mood swings from euphoria to despair? Do you recall feeling addicted or the way separation only amplified the longing? Do you recall the depression, frustration, and embarassment associated with an unreciprocated crush? What about the craving for union and the possessiveness? If so, then you know first-hand something about this crazy little thing called “love.” It is sweet and bitter both – a craving we won’t let go of and that won’t release us even if we want it to. That intense romantic focus provides a sense of complete and permanent devotion (which turns out to be inaccurate in fact) – even as it generates immense pain when it is unrequited or otherwise impossible. What creates this wonderful source of pain, this ache of passion – Cupid’s hurts-so-good arrow piercing the heart? Earlier this year, the Washington Post’s Neely Tucker attempted to shed some light on those questions in an article titled “An Affair Of the Head: They Say Love Is All About Brain Chemistry.” We have excerpted portions of the article below. * * *
The Situationist

Dog Training In Women's Prison

We have similar program in Colorado, the premise is the important part. The relationship between someone who is in prison and and another being who they can trust and who trusts them builds a deep-seated emotional connection that many have never had the opportunity to have.

DWIGHT, Ill. - As several hundred women dressed in dark canvas uniforms marched across the prison grounds under the watchful eyes of heavyset guards, inmate Jennifer Lawson stood outside her unlocked cell and smiled as she quietly trained a black poodle to turn on a light and open a heavy steel door.

She once was quick to anger and even assaulted a guard, but thanks to an innovative type of rehabilitation that pairs inmates with dogs, Lawson is now considered a model prisoner.

Chicago

Bush's Budget Cuts Funding For Substance Abuse

Major SAMHSA programs slated for cuts or elimination under the president's FY09 budget plan for HHS include its Programs of Regional and National Significance: cut by $250 million, to $639 million. The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment's budget would fall by $63 million, while the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention would have $36 million less to spend next year if Bush's plan were approved. The Center for Mental Health Services would be slashed by $126 million.

Drug-prevention advocates and others are raising the alarm over President Bush's FY2009 budget plan, which slashed $198 million from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and calls for elimination of the Recovery Community Support Programs and the STOP Underage Drinking program.

The budget also calls for spending $10 million less on the Drug Free Communities program, a major funding source for many community anti-drug coalitions. "The majority of programs that our field advocates for were recommended for severe cuts," noted Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America in an action alert calling for supporters to contact lawmakers to oppose the cuts. "Only a very small handful of programs were recommended for increases."

But Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W. Va.), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, charged Bush with "robbing Peter to pay Paul -- taking critical funds from essential domestic programs to fund the president's pet projects and the president's disastrous war and nation-building adventure in Iraq."

Join Together

Colorado's Prison Dilemma

As a state we need to think about how we lock people up, how long we lock them up for and what the payoff is. We have over 9,000 people who are eligible for parole. Hundreds of them are just waiting for their mandatory release date. We could simply reassess those and let them out a few months earlier, which would help up to free up space. The judiciary and prosecution needs to employ more alternatives to prison. We have many options available to us. Those options would require a funding stream from the state. It's certainly better to fund them than to write checks to CCA. By implementing an import ban that would stop CCA from bringing prisoners from other states we would certainly quiet their rant.

Firm says without 5% hike in daily per-inmate pay, it will clear Colorado inmates from 1 prison

By ED SEALOVER

THE GAZETTE

February 10, 2008 - 12:54AM

DENVER - A standoff between a legislative committee and a private company that houses 4,023 state inmates is raising serious questions about the future of Colorado’s prison operations, namely: Should the state continue to contract with private prison companies?

Or should more public prisons be built and, if so, should state spending on nonprison projects be put on hold?

The issue surfaced late last year after Corrections Corporation of America requested a 5 percent increase in daily per-prisoner payments from the state for each year of the next decade.

The company operates five private prisons in Colorado and has said it will have to clear inmates out of one of them if it does not receive more money. With Colorado’s 23 publicly owned prisons filled almost to capacity — three of them with doublebunked beds in many cells — and with CCA housing 19.4 percent of Colorado inmates, legislators find themselves in a bind.

The Joint Budget Committee has proposed a 1.5 percent increase in payments for all private-service providers, including CCA. Agreeing to the Tennessee-based company’s request for an additional 3.5 percent would cost the state an additional $3.7 million. The money might be found, but doing so would be unfair to groups such as Medicaid providers and home-based health-care providers, who would get a far lower raise because they do not have the negotiating power of CCA, said committee Chairman Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction.

Refusing the request — or threat, as some legislators have termed it — would mean the state must come up with hundreds of new prison beds soon. This could be done by building another facility, reducing the prison population or contracting with another company that is looking to build a prison in Hudson, about 35 miles northeast of Denver.
Grand Junction Sentinel

Lets Work At Not Building New Prisons

Iowa has a choice: Undertake its biggest prison-building spree in history, or look for alternatives that reduce the need for more prisons.

That choice must be made soon. The Legislature is considering a recommendation from Gov. Chet Culver to build a new state penitentiary and a new women's prison at a cost of $200 million. A legislative committee proposed that, plus a $25 million expansion of the prison at Newton. State corrections officials say the Men's Reformatory in Anamosa is next in line for replacement. And, if the steady growth in prison population continues as projected, the state could face building as many as three more prisons in the next decade.

There are alternatives to some, if not all, of this prison building, and it is time for the state to take them seriously.

1. Reduce prison sentences. The Legislature has contributed to prison crowding by mandating stiff sentences and reducing early parole. Even modest increases in sentences have a major impact on prison populations. There is no documented link between longer sentences and changes in criminal behavior. Yet lawmakers have resisted recommendations to reform sentencing.

2. Assure convicts a successful transition upon release. Parolees who get help after prison with mental and physical health care, employment and counseling are more likely to succeed. Without that safety net, however, they are more likely to violate parole, commit new crimes and return to prison.

3. Divert more offenders from prison. There is growing evidence that offenders with drug and alcohol problems or mental illnesses can be steered to productive, crime-free lives by completing far less costly programs in their own communities, where they have the support of family and friends.

Commendably, Governor Culver has recommended the Legislature spend $43 million to help parolees re-enter society and to divert people from prison in the first place. He recommended investing in re-entry programs for those leaving prison and expanding community-based programs that serve as alternatives to prison. The Legislature should act on those recommendations.

Court and corrections officials have learned from experience that locking people up for long periods and then dumping them on the street does not make communities safer. Nor does prison by itself transform people into law-abiding citizens. There are more effective ways to do both. Among the most promising examples are drug courts, described in the companion essay, which now operate in 10 Iowa counties.

Drug courts give a second chance to defendants who turn to crime because of drug and alcohol addictions. These defendants avoid prison if they complete a period of intensive supervision by the court and probation officers. Iowa's drug courts have a growing record of success. The courts have stepped outside the usual put-people-in-prison box to work with a broad spectrum of social-services agencies, public and private. The primary aim, rather than punishing people who make mistakes, is to help address the problems that lead to bad decisions. The drug-court model should be expanded to other categories of crime - such as domestic abuse or drunken driving.

Des Moines Register

Rocky Comes Out Against Record Sealing

The press corps came out against us last year as well. It seems that reporters want to be able to dig into people's past, and that's more important than letting them get on with their lives.
I suspect it has something to do with political figures and accessibility to their pasts.

TEN YEARS AFTER THE SENTENCE IS COMPLETE BEFORE THE COURT CAN BE PETITIONED TO SEAL THE RECORD.

THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY HAS TO APPROVE IT

AND THE JUDGE HAS TO AGREE

If we can't trust justice to criminal justice .... How many more checks and balances do we need?

Should someone who commits a crime be able to conceal the conviction from the public after maintaining a clean record for 10 years after completing the sentence and any additional restrictions?

Or should the public's right to see that record - an essential principle of open government and accountability - be preserved?

This is what the debate over House Bill 1082 is all about.

Proponents of HB 1082 argue that those who make one serious mistake in life deserve a second chance. They hold up as examples some now-respectable citizens who, they say, remain haunted decades later by a single conviction, particularly when seeking employment or housing. They point out that a person's history is easy to dredge up in today's Information Age.

We applaud second chances, too. And we'll concede that personal information is infinitely easier to access than ever before. But we also believe that actions have consequences, even though, in most cases, those consequences should diminish over time - and almost always do. People rarely judge someone with a single old conviction for possession of illegal drugs the same as they do someone convicted of the same offense last week.

HB 1082 is the reincarnation of last year's House Bill 1107, which Gov. Bill Ritter vetoed. This year's version includes amendments made to the 2007 bill as well as additional revisions negotiated this week with the governor in the hope of gaining his signature this time around.

A hearing on the latest version is scheduled for Tuesday. The bill would allow Class 5 and 6 drug felonies (possession offenses) to be sealed after the waiting period, and many misdemeanor offenses, excluding the most serious, such as those involving child abuse. It also requires district attorney approval and court review before a request to have a conviction sealed can be granted.

Without doubt the bill is better than last year's. However, no amount of tweaking will alter the reality that it will conceal once-public records - and through a process that will inevitably favor the well-heeled and well-connected.

Rocky Opinion

New Report On Recidivism by NIC

This is a 67 page report but I think it's worth the read.

Evidence-Based Practices to Reduce Recidivism: Implications for State Judiciaries

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
National crime rates skyrocketed during the 1970s, and efforts to control crime through
well-intentioned offender-treatment programs appeared to be patently ineffective. As a
result, new state sentencing policies were enacted—policies which eschewed any effort to
get offenders to accept responsibility for their own behaviors and sought to control crime
by locking up many more offenders for longer periods of time.

Those policies, still ineffect in most states today, have resulted in overcrowded prisons, the highest incarceration rates in the world, skyrocketing corrections costs, and extreme racial and
ethnic disparities. Although initially effective in locking up serious and dangerous
offenders, overreliance on incarceration is today of limited and diminishing effectiveness
as a crime-control strategy. Offender recidivism rates have increased. Three quarters of
state prison commitments are for nonviolent offenses, resulting in overcrowded prisons
and shorter prison terms for more dangerous offenders. We over-incarcerate some
offenders, and under-incarcerate others.

Most important, unlike 30 years ago, there is today an enormous body of sophisticated
research proving that unlike incarceration, which actually increases offender recidivism,
properly designed and operated recidivism-reduction programs can significantly reduce
offender recidivism. Such programs are more effective, and more cost-effective, than
incarceration in reducing crime rates.
In this article we review this body of research about “what works” and the principles of
Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) to reduce recidivism, which are based on that research.

Among the conclusions reached by applying these principles of EBP to current state
felony-sentencing practices are the following:

Effective recidivism-reduction programs must target moderate- and high-risk
offenders, i.e., those more likely to reoffend.

Recidivism among low-risk offenders increases when they are included in
programs with higher-risk offenders.

Effective programs must also target “criminogenic needs,” i.e., those values,
attitudes, or behaviors of the offender that are most closely associated with the
likelihood of committing crime.

An accurate assessment of an offender’s level of risk and criminogenic needs
requires both sound professional judgment and an actuarial tool that includes
assessment of static and dynamic risk and criminogenic need factors—dynamic
factors being those that are subject to change.

An accurate assessment of an offender’s level of risk and criminogenic needs is
important in determining the offender’s suitability for diversion or probation,
the kind of treatment and behavioral controls to be provided, and appropriate
conditions of probation to be imposed. Imposing additional conditions of
probation beyond those directly related to the offender’s risk level or needs only
distracts and impedes the offender and probation officer and undermines the
ability of both the court and the probation officer to hold the defendant
accountable for compliance with essential conditions.

An accurate assessment of the offender’s level of risk and needs is also
important in determining the nature of any sanction to be imposed upon
violation of probation.

Cognitive-behavioral programs rooted in social learning theory are the most
effective in reducing recidivism.

Boot camps and wilderness programs typically do not reduce recidivism, and
“scared straight” and shock-type programs actually increase recidivism.

With continued exposure to clear rules, consistently and immediately enforced
with appropriate consequences, offenders will tend to behave in ways that result
in the most rewards and the fewest punishments.

Positive reinforcement is more effective than sanctions. Offenders respond
better, and maintain newly learned behaviors longer, when approached with
“carrots” rather than “sticks,” rewards rather than punishments.

Treatment programs must provide a continuity of care. Offenders in treatment
also require positive support, especially from the persons closest to them: family
members, friends, religious institutions, and supportive others in their
communities.

Treatment style and methods of communication must also be matched to the
offender’s personal characteristics and stage of change readiness.......

Sentencing Reforms Not A "Get Out Of Jail Free" Card

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Attorney General Michael Mukasey has made misleading statements predicting dire consequences as a result of the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s decision to permit certain prisoners the chance to seek modest reductions of their sentences for crack cocaine offenses. He has said that many crack cocaine offenders are violent and that our communities will suffer due to the sudden influx of crack offenders. Mukasey is expected to make these points again at the House Judiciary Committee hearing on February 7 at 10 a.m.

But what Mukasey is failing to say is that the Sentencing Commission’s decision is not a get-out-of-jail-free card for any federal crack cocaine offender. Nor are most federal crack offenders violent.

“No one gets out of jail immediately because of the guideline changes. Courts considering sentence reduction motions must take public safety into account when weighing their decision,” said Mary Price, vice president and general counsel of Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), a national, nonpartisan sentencing reform organization. “Any prisoner eligible to seek a reduction must first convince a court that they deserve one. If the U.S. Attorney believes a prisoner will pose a risk to the community if released early, he can oppose the reduction and explain to the court why the prisoner does not deserve it,” continued Price.

FAMM Press Release

Gatekeeper To A Better Life

Prosecutors reentry program get high marks
The easy part of being Brooklyn's district attorney is sending bad guys to prison. The hard part comes when they return to the scenes of their crimes for repeat performances.

Charles J. Hynes has said as much since he was first elected to the job in 1989, and he has encouraged ambitious young prosecutors to bring him bright ideas for persuading parolees to listen to their better angels.

If that could happen, Mr. Hynes reasoned, crime-weary Brooklynites such as himself could know safer streets. (His own home in Flatbush has been burglarized three times and his children have been mugged.)

Accordingly, Mr. Hynes quietly put one such bright idea to action in 1999, a program called Community and Law Enforcement Resources Together, or ComALERT.

The brainchild of Patricia L. Gatling, a narcotics prosecutor who rose to become Mr. Hynes' chief assistant and who today heads New York City's Human Rights Commission, ComALERT is the nation's first comprehensive prisoner re-entry initiative created and led by the very authority that locked up its clients in the first place.

New York Law Journal

Rep. "Sorry" For S***s Remark

I certainly hope that someone can see their way clear to find some kind of an appropriate reprimand. I often wonder why we have trouble getting support to help people. It's obviously attitudes like that in our legislature that creates the schism ...

After what some at the Capitol were calling a case of political foot-in-mouth disease, Rep. Larry Liston today apologized for calling unwed teenage parents "sluts."

"The derogatory term I used was offensive and inappropriate, and I would like to apologize for using it," the Colorado Springs Republican said in a statement. "Because of my unfortunate choice of language, the message that I was trying to get across about personal responsibility and parental responsibility has been overshadowed.

"I certainly regret using the term I did," he said.

Rep. Debbie Stafford, D-Aurora, said she was so livid over the comment that she clipped newspaper articles reporting Liston's remarks and posted them in a Capitol women's bathroom.

"To judge a young person trying to sort through their pain is one of the most appalling things I can think of," Stafford said. "As adults, we have an obligation to reach out and mentor and help young people who might be confused."

The Denver

Post

State Report Critical of Halfway House

I wish someone would go talk to residents at all the halfway houses in the state. If we intend to reduce recidivism we often need to start with the gatekeepers themselves. It's really a shame, The Villa has been around for 25 years or more and it's one of the only places in Colorado that someone without money could go when they needed treatment instead of going to or after being released from prison.

GREELEY – 9NEWS has obtained a copy of a state report that details a series of problems at The Villa, a halfway house in Greeley. The problems range from untrained staff to case managers having sexual relationships with offenders.

The report is the result of an investigation conducted by the Colorado Department of Public Safety last year.

Among many troubling issues, the state found broken showers, leaky ceilings, missing paperwork and evidence that some case managers were having sex with offenders.

In all, the report said, "A total of 79 percent of the areas surveyed were rated as either 'Needs Improvement' or 'Unsatisfactory.'"

The Villa, which can house around 200 people, is supposed to help offenders who may benefit from a residential program as opposed to prison. It's also is supposed provide drug treatment. However, the report shows the facility is struggling to do its job.

"We remain concerned," wrote Carl Blesch, manager of the Office of Community Corrections, in a letter to The Villa's director. "The Villa has not been operating at a level of performance equal to that of most community corrections programs."

The Villa's director, Matt Brucklacher, did not want to comment to 9NEWS on the matter.

Several of the offenders staying at the halfway house did.

Erika Rich told 9NEWS many of the problems stem from a high turnover rate among workers.

"We, the clients that have been there for almost a year, can tell them how to do their job because they don't know," she said.

Joe Gonzales says the living conditions are deplorable and problems rarely get addressed by management.

"A lot of things needs to be changed there and I think if they really wanted to do it they would, but to me, it seems like they don't care," he said. "I think they're just out for the money."

The Villa is owned by Avalon Correctional Services, Inc., which is based out of Oklahoma.

On its Web site, Avalon says it owns 14 correctional facilities in four states. In Colorado, Avalon owns The Villa and three facilities in Adams County.

9 News

Jailhouses Rock The Vote

In Colorado you are not allowed to vote when you are on parole or are serving time for a felony. Those awaiting trial in county jails are allowed to vote.

The audience, admittedly, was captive. But in a year of record turnouts for the presidential primaries, perhaps no place saw a bigger uptick in voter registration than Los Angeles County jails.

At least 917 inmates registered to vote over the last month, said sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore. Of those, 881 filled out applications to vote by absentee ballot in the California primary.

LA TIMES

Legislator Wants To Expand State Prisons

DENVER - Colorado should begin serious talks about expanding some of its state-owned prisons, the head of the Legislature's Joint Budget Committee said Tuesday.

Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, is upset that private prison companies operating in the state incarcerate about 20 percent of all state inmates. He says with one company running four of the five private prisons here, they have too great a negotiating position and can dictate terms to the Legislature.

One such company, Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America, is requesting a 5 percent hike in the per diem rate the state pays it or it will bar Colorado inmates from being housed in one of its facilities.

Because of that, and years of emphasis on private prisons under former GOP Gov. Bill Owens in general, Buescher advised the Legislature's Capital Development Committee to give serious thought to funding some expansion proposals for state facilities that previously were rated low on its priority list.

And that includes Trinidad Correctional Facilities and a slew of others in Southern Colorado.

"This would force the state of Colorado to accelerate the construction of prison capacity," Buescher told the six-member CDC, which prioritizes construction projects for the Legislature. "On your list laid out as No. 61 (Trinidad), that could be a project that we have to accelerate in order to deal with this problem."

The Pueblo Chieftain

Mukasey Wants To Block Crack Releases

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General Michael Mukasey wants Congress to act within weeks to prevent the release of thousands of violent criminals from federal prison under new crack cocaine sentencing rules.

In testimony prepared for a House hearing Thursday, Mukasey indicates a willingness to go along with new sentencing guidelines that reduce federal prison time for crack cocaine convicts - but only for first-time, nonviolent offenders.

New U.S. Sentencing Commission rules taking effect in less than a month would let nearly 20,000 federal inmates seek reductions in their crack cocaine sentences.

It's unclear, if not unlikely, that Congress would act before the rules take effect.

AP Story

CCA Fourth Quarter and Year End Profits

Corrections Corporation of America (NYSE: CXW) (the "Company" or "CCA"), the nation's largest provider of corrections management services to government agencies, today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2007.

Financial Review

Fourth Quarter of 2007 Compared with Fourth Quarter of 2006

--  Net income increased to $34.9 million from $32.2 million
--  Net income per diluted share increased to $0.28 from $0.26
--  Net income per diluted share, excluding special items ("Adjusted net
   income per diluted share") increased to $0.29 from $0.26
--  EBITDA increased to $91.8 million from $82.2 million
--  1,680 expansion beds placed into service during the fourth quarter of
   2007
   

Financial results for the fourth quarter were positively impacted by an increase in compensated man-days from both federal and state customers. Management revenue from federal customers increased 7.5% to $150.8 million during the fourth quarter of 2007 from $140.3 million during the fourth quarter of 2006. The increase over the fourth quarter of 2006 was primarily the result of an increase in utilization at our Stewart Detention Center resulting from our contract with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") that became effective in October 2006. Additionally, revenue increased as a result of higher occupancies combined with per-diem increases obtained on several contracts with the ICE and U.S. Marshals Service ("USMS").

CNN Money

January Dept of Corr Population Reports

A Shameful Record

The United States leads the world in a shameful category: the number of people it has locked up for life without parole for crimes committed by juveniles. Juvenile crime should not be taken lightly, but young people should not be completely written off.

According to Human Rights Watch, 2,380 people in this country are serving life sentences for crimes they committed before they turned 18. That makes the United States an extreme global outlier. Sentencing juveniles to life without parole is at odds with international law; the vast majority of the world’s countries ban the practice.

Some juvenile criminals commit horrible crimes, and the justice system should punish them accordingly. Juveniles, though, are not adults. Even their brain development is different, making them less able than older people to resist impulses. Consideration should also be given to the nature of the crime. In some cases, juveniles have been imprisoned for life for acting as accessories or lookouts for adults. Putting a 16-year-old who played such a role in jail for perhaps 65 years is an extraordinarily harsh, and expensive, societal response.

There are ongoing efforts in several states to impose sorely needed balance to the law. In California, the Legislature recently failed to act on a bill that would have allowed the more than 225 inmates serving life sentences there for crimes committed as minors the right to appear before a parole board after serving 25 years in prison. The bill deserves to be reintroduced, and to pass.

NY Times