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Prisons
Quick Hit
by Robert Dietz
1:18pm
Thu Apr 14, 2011
1 comment

Report: Recidivism Rate In Illinois Prisons Remains High

Illinois, like much of the country, continues to struggle with high rates of recidivism in its prisons. A new report by the Pew Center on the States finds that America's corrections departments have not solved one of their biggest problems. Former inmates keep coming back, which calls into question the departments ability to "correct" and drives up the costs for states to house and care for the same prisoners again and again.

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PI Original
by Micah Maidenberg
2:57pm
Tue Mar 29, 2011
22 comments

Advocates Seek New Road For Criminal Justice Policy

Criminal Justice

Criminal justice advocates are raising the alarm about a new set of bills in play in the current General Assembly.

Quick Hit
by Micah Maidenberg
11:31am
Mon Mar 28, 2011
11 comments

Paper Discusses Consequences, Tweaks Media Coverage Of Ending Early Release

One of the consequences of the the Quinn administration's decision to end two Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) early release programs in the face of a political backlash is fiscal. In the latest installment of its series about the situation, the Bloomington Pantagraph notes that taxpayers are now being asked to pony up more money for prison guards to staff what's been described as a "bursting" prison system. "The IDOC budget could increase more than 10 percent to $1.36 billion in 2012," the newspaper notes, "with much of the new funding covering salaries of additional correctional officers hired to reduce overtime costs brought about by the increased prison population." (Several Chicago-area state lawmakers are furious IDOC is slated for a bump while human services could lose even more resources this budget year and next.)

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