Arizona
Articles
03/03/2009 – The Arizona Republic: “Arizona 4th in Spending Percentage for Corrections”, by Arthur H. Rostein
“Arizona allocated a higher percentage of spending for corrections in fiscal 2008 than all but three other states, according to a study released Monday.”
12/02/2008 – The Arizona Capital Times: “Huppenthal Presents Work on Probation Legislation to National Audience”, by Luige del Puerto
“Sen. John Huppenthal’s work on criminal justice, particularly in the area of probation, this last session has earned him the notice of the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Effective Justice.”
“The Center invited Huppenthal to Washington, D.C., where he is scheduled to make a presentation on Dec. 2 on a bill he helped pass into law last session, S1476, and efforts to reduce crime in Arizona.”
06/31/2008 – The Christian Science Monitor: “Program Helps Arizona Prisoners Get Ready for Real Life”, by Sarah More McCann
“Today, the head of Arizona corrections says violence inside state prisons has sharply decreased, and released inmates are less likely to return to prison. It’s the result of a new public policy innovation, Arizona officials say, that begins preparing prisoners for reentry to society from their first day in prison.”
06/15/2008 – The Arizona Republic: “Ending a Cycle of Crime: Ex-Cons Get a Helping Hand,” by Amanda J. Crawford and Yvonne Wingett
“In 2003, prison officials set out to find new ways to keep released inmates from going back behind bars. So they began to map where the more than 30,000 Arizona inmates had lived before they were locked up and where they might return.”
05/03/2008 – Tucson Citizen: “Our Opinion: ‘Parallel Universe Can Improve“
“Dora Schriro came to Arizona to run a warehouse, but instead is operating what might well be the state’s biggest educational and job-training system.”
03/08/2008 – The Arizona Republic: “Probation Bill Aims to Ease Load on Ariz. Prisons,” by Amanda J. Crawford
“The high number of probation failures in Arizona, similar to trends nationwide, is straining the state’s overcrowded prisons and jails and taxing limited criminal-justice resources.”
01/20/2008 – Arizona Central: “Napolitano Wants to Shift Some Prison Costs to Counties”, by Jacques Billeaud
“One of Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano’s proposals for reducing a state budget shortfall would put a financial hit on counties already facing lean financial times.”
01/23/2008 – The Arizona Republic: “Jail Proposal May Save $58 Mil,” by Amanda J. Crawford
“More than 10,000 felons who serve time each year in state prisons could instead serve out their sentences in county jails under a plan proposed by Gov. Janet Napolitano.”
04/28/2007 – Tucson Citizen: “Our Opinion: It’s Only Fair: AZ Inmates Should Be in AZ Prisons ” (Registration Required)
“Quite simply, there are too many inmates and not enough cells. Over the past year, the number of inmates in Arizona prisons has grown by about 162 per month. That exacerbated a bed shortage that already was severe.”
04/25/2007 – Yuma Sun: “2 Staff Members Hurt In Indiana Prison Riot Involving Arizona Inmates”, by AP and Staff Reporters
“Two staff members were injured in what was described by the city’s mayor as a ’’full-scale riot’’ among prisoners Tuesday at the New Castle Correctional Facility, where inmates transferred from the state correctional facility in Yuma are held.”
03/17/2007 – AZ Central: “Mesa Chief: Halfway Houses a Magnet for Released Felons,” by Gary Nelson
“Mesa’s halfway house industry has turned the city into a magnet for felons who are feeding a major crime problem, Police Chief George Gascón told the City Council on Thursday.”
03/13/2007 – Arizona Daily Star “Arizona Helping Fill Indiana Prison with 1,260 Male Inmates”, by Paul Davenport
“With one state needing more prison beds and the other having room to spare, Arizona will send up to 1,260 medium-security male prisoners to an Indiana state prison, the Arizona Department of Corrections announced Monday.”
02/19/2007 – Tucson Citizen: “Our Opinion: Prison growth a state duty, not private one,”
”No question about it: Dangerous criminals should be locked up. And private prisons have their place – as stopgaps to ease temporary crowding. But the state must explore innovative treatment and release options for first-time nonviolent offenders. Filling new penitentaries isn’t the answer.”
02/19/2007 – The Kingman Daily Miner: “State works to address growth projected in prison population”, by Aaron Royster
“Arizona’s prison population is projected to grow more than 30 percent in that time period. The Arizona Department of Corrections has already submitted a request for 3,000 new prison beds.”
02/07/2007 – The Arizona Republic: “Ariz. Part of Prison, Crime Study”, by Amanda J. Crawford
“The Council of State Governments’ Justice Center announced Tuesday that Arizona was one of five states selected as part of the new initiative that will look for ways to curb prison population growth projected to be as high as 50 percent over the next decade. A new analysis unveiled to launch the research project shows that left unchecked, growth could cost taxpayers and additional $3 billion over the next decade. That’s on top of a corrections budget that is approaching nearly $1 billion per year.”
01/30/2007 – The Business Journal of Phoenix: “Thomas Wants Crack down on Jail Terms”, by Mike Sunnucks
“Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas is criticizing Gov. Janet Napolitano for what the he says will result in the early release of more than 26,000 felons from state prisons.”