A bit of good news for the criminal justice system.

Back from vacation to good news in the criminal justice system.

 

First, the AG (finally) recognizes that incarcerating everyone in the U.S. is a terrible idea.

 

At a speech to the ABA in San Francisco today, Attorney General Eric Holder called for a change of course in incarceration policy, away from mandatory minimums and lengthy sentences for non-violent drug offenders. Holder's anticipated comments include: "we cannot simply prosecute or incarcerate our way to becoming a safer nation."

 

Holder invoked financial justification in his call to reduce the prison polulation. The average cost of incarceration is reported to be $43000 per year, but increases to 100,000 per year for prisoners over 55.

 

More important than the financial impact is the Attorney General's recognition of the incredible social costs of keeping people in prison. "Too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long, and for no good law enforcement reason," Holder said.

Second, New York Judge Shira A. Scheindlin recognized that the 4th Amendment still exists.

Judge Scheindlin "ruled that police officers have for years been systematically stopping innocent people in the street without any objective reason to suspect them of wrongdoing. Officers often frisked these people, usually young minority men, for weapons or searched their pockets for contraband, like drugs, before letting them go."

Attorney Peter L. Zimroth will now take on a monumental task: "to monitor the Police Department’s compliance with the Constitution."

Warning: reading this decision might make your day.