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Updates have been a little slow, but with good reason!

I've gotten a few new articles to post, I'll try and break it up over a few posts to prevent TL/DNR.

First, for any Defense Attorney who has ever wondered if a particularly punitive judge or prosecutor gets "paid by the prisoner", law. com informs us,tragically, it's certainly possible!

Next up, Sentencing Law & Policy points us to a study promoting military service as an alternative to incarceration. It addresses not just the idea of paying back to society, but the rehabilitative effects of military discipline. Of particular interest to my closest colleagues... it included substantial interviews with inmates of the Kentucky DOC. (For those who prefer the actual journal article over a blogger's summary click here [pdf])

Last for this post...

...The Iowa Legislature may change Sex Offender restrictions from residency-based to presence/loitering-based.

Thomas Ferguson, Black Hawk County attorney, said trading residency restriction
for exclusion zones makes sense."That would be more effective in achieving the
goals of protecting children and be more efficient in the use of law enforcement
resources," Ferguson said."The residency restriction just bans someone from
sleeping near certain designated areas --- school and day cares --- but it
doesn't really prohibit them from spending their day in an area where kids can
be," Ferguson said.

It's important to note that this policy shift is being lobbied for by prosecutors and sheriffs.