Déjà vu all over again?

I have tracked the various criminal justice reform bills for decades from a unique perspective inside the federal prison system. Each time, it’s the same old song and dance. First come the press releases; then rumors run rampant with the prison population while NGOs and politicians raise money for all the "wonderful work" they are [...]

By |2018-11-15T22:12:28-04:00November 15th, 2018|Criminal Justice and Prison Reform|Comments Off on Déjà vu all over again?

Dear Mr. Kushner

It appears the recent rumblings within the political landscape of justice reform have led to a potential compromise bill in the Senate looming for September. I’ve watched various reform bills since the 1980’s and can honestly say this is the first bill even remotely close to passage. I’d like to thank you for your efforts [...]

By |2018-08-21T19:36:48-04:00August 21st, 2018|Criminal Justice and Prison Reform|Comments Off on Dear Mr. Kushner

Time to rant (Only for serious reformers)

I  always wonder who writes these crime bills and the First Step Act (FSA) is no different.  After reading the flavor of the week, I just need to remind myself there is no reason to get upset because it's just more beltway dysfunction. While the FSA is actually worse than most of the recent legislation, [...]

By |2018-07-04T15:25:38-04:00May 21st, 2018|Criminal Justice and Prison Reform|Comments Off on Time to rant (Only for serious reformers)

Let’s have the DOJ re-create the wheel on Federal prison reform! “NOT”!!

I felt it was time for a 2017 blog and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates’s remarks at Harvard’s Law School were the catalyst to set me in motion. https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/deputy-attorney-general-sally-q-yates-delivers-remarks-harvard-law-school-sentencing-and My mantra has consistently been that many Federal prison reform initiatives can be accomplished under the existing policy framework through leadership, accountability and thinking outside the [...]

By |2017-01-27T13:35:53-04:00January 23rd, 2017|Uncategorized|Comments Off on Let’s have the DOJ re-create the wheel on Federal prison reform! “NOT”!!

Crunch Time for Federal Prison Reform

I listened in on the Washington Post Criminal Justice forum yesterday. One of the panels involved Congressman Goodlatte of the House Judiciary who seemed a bit pessimistic about movement on criminal justice reform during this lame duck session of Congress. What was telling is rather than speak of an upcoming vote, he mentioned there was [...]

By |2016-09-15T13:50:06-04:00September 15th, 2016|Criminal Justice and Prison Reform|Comments Off on Crunch Time for Federal Prison Reform

Who do I pay for early release? (When it sounds too good to be true; it is!)

I wrote this blog at the request of Jeff Grant over at Prisonist.org. I thought I would re-post it on my site because I’m seeing more and more people getting into the consulting arena and it’s not just the white collar people who fall prey to consultants. The bottom line is beware when someone directly [...]

By |2017-01-30T23:08:27-04:00July 30th, 2016|Criminal Justice and Prison Reform|Comments Off on Who do I pay for early release? (When it sounds too good to be true; it is!)

Its all about the back end!

Unlike the push from organizations like FAMM who place a greater emphasis on “Front End reforms”, my reform mantra focuses on getting people in the community sooner. Aside from helping individuals, I try to educate professionals on the prison system and how meaningful prison reform can be accomplished within the existing Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) [...]

By |2016-05-02T12:50:55-04:00April 29th, 2016|Criminal Justice and Prison Reform|Comments Off on Its all about the back end!

SRACA-Truly missing the mark for the incarcerated

As currently written, Senate Bill 2123, or the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (SRACA) reduces a number of mandatory sentence provisions for drug offenses, makes crack/powder equalization retroactive, expands those eligible for “safety valve” reductions, reduces mandatory sentences for some types of gun offenses, and allows some inmates to “earn” sentence reduction by programming. While [...]

By |2015-10-28T18:09:57-04:00October 28th, 2015|Criminal Justice and Prison Reform|Comments Off on SRACA-Truly missing the mark for the incarcerated

Mr. President, please hear the voices of people from the trenches who have served the government but also those who have served time!(Before you pull out the pen)

Just about every day, there is yet another article on criminal justice reform. Just today, we read about the video released by the Whitehouse regarding the president traveling over the next few weeks to speak with leaders around the country. While it all sounds great, the president may truly be missing the mark if relying mostly on [...]

By |2015-10-22T12:51:33-04:00October 19th, 2015|Criminal Justice and Prison Reform|Comments Off on Mr. President, please hear the voices of people from the trenches who have served the government but also those who have served time!(Before you pull out the pen)
Go to Top