The Plea Bargaining Blog

An interesting CNN article recently discussed a new Human Rights Watch report the examines the use of sex registration requirements to deal with children who commit sex offenses. The report is entitled " Raised on the Registry: The Irreparable Harm of Placing Children on Sex Offender Registries in the U.S. " and states in its opening: Upon release from juvenile detention or prison, youth sex offenders are subject to registration laws that require them to disclose continually updated information including a current photograph, height, weight, age, current address, school attendance, and place of employment. Registrants must periodically update this information so that it remains current in each jurisdiction in which they reside, work, or attend school. Often, the requirement to register lasts for decades and even a lifetime. Although the details about some youth offenders prosecuted in juvenile courts are disclosed only to law enforcement, most states provide these details ...

According to a New York Times article, a recent report by the Department of Justice Inspector General recommends that the federal Bureau of Prisons utilize compassionate release more often to save money and reduce overcrowding. The federal Bureau of Prisons could save taxpayer money and reduce overcrowding if it better managed a program for the “compassionate release” of inmates who are dying or facing other extraordinary circumstances, according to a new report by the Justice Department’s independent inspector general. The federal prison system does not allow the parole of inmates before their sentences are completed, but in the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, Congress authorized the bureau to request that a judge reduce an inmate’s sentence for “extraordinary and compelling” circumstances. Such compassionate release does not have to be for reasons of terminal illness, but it generally is. The 85-page report, released on Wednesday by Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz, examined c...