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About 1 in 5 inmates in Bureau of Prisons (BOP) custody is foreign-born, a Department of Justice (DOJ) report reveals. A new report from Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ DOJ showed that out of the 185,507 inmates currently in BOP custody, 39,455 of the inmates — or about 21 percent — were foreign-born who either entered the U.S. illegally or legally. According to the newly released data, 51 percent of the 39,455 foreign-born inmates in BOP custody are illegal aliens who are subject to final deportation orders. Another 38 percent of the foreign-born inmate population remain under investigation by the Immigration and Customs...

For decades, California's criminal justice policies ensured that murderers and others sentenced to life, with the possibility of parole, could expect to die in prison. And most of the time, they did. Since Gov. Jerry Brown assumed office in January 2011, a record number of inmates with life sentences are winning parole. Brown has allowed the release of nearly 1,400 lifers, while going along with the parole board about 82 percent of the time.

One of the most influential evangelical leaders in the United States says Christians should go to jail rather than comply with the Obama administration’s mandate to provide all contraception, including abortion-inducing drugs, in their health care plans. Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), told LifeSiteNews.com “we will not comply” with the Dept. of Health and Human Services’ mandate requiring religious institutions to cover abortifacient products such as Plan B, Ella, and the IUD. “We want the law changed, or else we’re going to write our letters from the Nashville jail, just...

Let's look at the cause of this problem. California's prison population is far over capacity. Why? The "three strikes rule," promoted by one of the most powerful lobbies in California — The California Correctional Peace Officers Association — is part of the problem:In three decades, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association has become one of the most powerful political forces in California. The union has contributed millions of dollars to support "three strikes" and other laws that lengthen sentences and increase parole sanctions. It donated $1 million to Wilson after he backed the three strikes law. And the result for...

California's three-strikes law, which imposes mandatory 25-year minimums on three-time offenders, even if their crimes are nonviolent. "There are a lot of second-strikers who get their sentence doubled just because they've had another strike. So, instead of a burglary being five years, automatically it's 10," Specter said. Severe overcrowding in state prisons has resulted in extreme suffering and death, a deprivation of the (American) rights violate the Constitution and the 1995 federal Prison Litigation Reform Act, as well.

SALT LAKE CITY — In 1983, when Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, then a state representative, pushed through a bill imposing tougher sex-offender laws, it was a different era. "I was convinced at the time that society had not really looked at sexual abuse," Hillyard said. "There were things going on, even within families, that nobody dared talk about." And while 1996 legislation, also proposed by Hillyard, eliminated mandatory minimum sentences and widened options for prosecutors and judges, Utah still has one of the country's toughest stances on sex crime — with the prison population to show for it. That's why...

The United States may soon see its prison population drop for the first time in almost four decades, a milestone in a nation that locks up more people than any other. The inmate population has risen steadily since the early 1970s as states adopted get-tough policies that sent more people to prison and kept them there longer. But tight budgets now have states rethinking these policies and the costs that come with them. "It's a reversal of a trend that's been going on for more than a generation," said David Greenberg, a sociology professor at New York University. "In some...

Caller: Thank you for taking my call. I'm pondering the unemployment numbers and this healthcare bill with the mandate. I'm wondering if this will exacerbate the prison overpopulation problem? Tom Ashbrook: What do you mean? Caller: If there's over 10 percent unemployment, I don't think American prisons handle that many people can they? Host: Will people have to steal to pay their healthcare? What are you saying? Caller: If they fail to meet the mandate they get thrown in prison. Host: He's only half facetious, I think. This will be a real requirement. What happens if people can't or don't...

Just glancing at the New York Times today: They are "concerned" because prison populations have increased over 2%, "but crime rates are declining". Gee,whillikers ! Do you suppose there could be a connection between crime and punishment ? Do you suppose the fact criminals are "incarcerated" ...(That,by the way,is one word inmates love to use !)...might be keeping them from committing more crimes ? Duh-h-h-h-h-h-h !! I think we need an in depth study-government-funded,of course. I mean,hey ! We have to do something for the wonderful folks who supported John Kerry !! NOT !!!