Justice in Review: New Trends in State Sentencing and Corrections 2014-2015

In 2014 and 2015, 46 states enacted at least 201 bills, executive orders, and ballot initiatives to reform at least one aspect of their sentencing and corrections systems. In conducting this review of state criminal justice reforms, Vera found that most of the policy changes focused on three areas: creating or expanding opportunities to divert people away from the criminal justice system; reducing prison populations by enacting sentencing reform, expanding opportunities for early release from prison, and reducing the number of people admitted to prison for violating the terms of their community supervision; and supporting reentry into the community from prison. By providing concise summaries of representative reforms in each of these areas, this report serves as a practical guide for other state and federal policymakers looking to affect similar changes in criminal justice policy

Overlooked: Women and Jails in an Era of Reform

Since 1970, there has been a nearly five-fold increase in the number of people in U.S. jails—the approximately 3,000 county or municipality-run detention facilities that primarily hold people arrested but not yet convicted of a crime. Despite recent scrutiny from policymakers and the public, one aspect of this growth has received little attention: the shocking rise in the number of women in jail.Women in jail are the fastest growing correctional population in the country—increasing 14-fold between 1970 and 2014. Yet there is surprisingly little research on why so many more women wind up in jail today. This report examines what research does exist on women in jail in order to begin to reframe the conversation to include them. It offers a portrait of women in jail, explores how jail can deepen the societal disadvantages they face, and provides insight into what drives women's incarceration and ways to reverse the trend

Making the Grade

With its July 2015 announcement of the Second Chance Pell Pilot Program, the U.S. Department of Education ushered in what could be a new era of expanded opportunities for postsecondary education in our nation's prisons. The Second Chance Pell Pilot makes students incarcerated in state and federal prisons eligible for need-based financial aid in a limited number of authorized sites—meaning postsecondary education is likely to become a reality for an increased number of the more than 1.5 million people in prisons nationwide.Research shows that—among other benefits to individuals, families, communities, and prisons—incarcerated people who participate in prison education programs are 43 percent less likely to recidivate than those who do not. This report offers lessons from the field on the implementation of these programs in corrections settings across the country

Incarceration's Front Door: The Misuse of Jails in America

Local jails, which exist in nearly every town and city in America, are built to hold people deemed too dangerous to release pending trial or at high risk of flight. This, however, is no longer primarily what jails do or whom they hold, as people too poor to post bail languish there and racial disparities disproportionately impact communities of color. This report reviews existing research and data to take a deeper look at our nation's misuse of local jails and to determine how we arrived at this point. It also highlights jurisdictions that have taken steps to mitigate negative consequences, all with the aim of informing local policymakers and their constituents who are interested in reducing recidivism, improving public safety, and promoting stronger, healthier communities

IDENTIFYING VEHICLE ROUTE BASED ON USER ACTIVITY

Techniques are presented herein for an algorithmic framework to select the best vehicle route based on user activity. A minimum wireless service level is guaranteed in each leg of the route by accounting for anticipated user activity and localized network overloads estimated from route queries

An experimental and computational investigation of structure and magnetism in pyrite Co1−x_{1-x}Fex_xS2_2: Chemical bonding and half-metallicity

Bulk samples of the pyrite chalcogenide solid solutions Co$_{1-x}$Fe$_x$S$_2$ 0 <= x <= 0.5, have been prepared and their crystal structures and magnetic properties studied by X-ray diffraction and SQUID magnetization measurements. Across the solution series, the distance between sulfur atoms in the persulfide (S$_2^{2-}$) unit remains nearly constant. First principles electronic structure calculations using experimental crystal structures as inputs point to the importance of this constant S-S distance, in helping antibonding S-S levels pin the Fermi energy. In contrast hypothetical rock-salt CoS is not a good half metal, despite being nearly isostructural and isoelectronic. We use our understanding of the Co$_{1-x}$Fe$_x$S$_2$ system to make some prescriptions for new ferromagnetic half-metals.Comment: 8 pages including 9 figure

IDENTIFYING VEHICLE ROUTE BASED ON USER ACTIVITY

Techniques are presented herein for an algorithmic framework to select the best vehicle route based on user activity. A minimum wireless service level is guaranteed in each leg of the route by accounting for anticipated user activity and localized network overloads estimated from route queries

Development and Pilot of a Checklist for Management of Acute Liver Failure in the Intensive Care Unit

Introduction Acute liver failure (ALF) is an ideal condition for use of a checklist. Our aims were to develop a checklist for the management of ALF in the intensive care unit (ICU) and assess the usability of the checklist among multiple providers. Methods The initial checklist was developed from published guidelines and expert opinion. The checklist underwent pilot testing at 11 academic liver transplant centers in the US and Canada. An anonymous, written survey was used to assess the usability and quality of the checklist. Written comments were used to improve the checklist following the pilot testing period. Results We received 81 surveys involving the management of 116 patients during the pilot testing period. The overall quality of the checklist was judged to be above average to excellent by 94% of users. On a 5-point Likert scale, the majority of survey respondents agreed or agreed strongly with the following checklist characteristics: the checklist was easy to read (99% agreed/agreed strongly), easy to use (97%), items are categorized logically (98%), time to complete the checklist did not interfere with delivery of appropriate and safe patient care (94%) and was not excessively burdensome (92%), the checklist allowed the user the freedom to use his or her clinical judgment (80%), it is a useful tool in the management of acute liver failure (98%). Web-based and mobile apps were developed for use of the checklist at the point of care. Conclusion The checklist for the management of ALF in the ICU was shown in this pilot study to be easy to use, helpful and accepted by a wide variety of practitioners at multiple sites in the US and Canada

Classy Delicates: A Case Study

Andy Steiner was checking the Internet for late night West Coast baseball game scores early on Saturday morning, August 3rd, 2007, when an email message popped up on his screen. It was a message from a prospective buyer for Classy Delicates, Steiner&rsquo;s online lingerie retailing business.&nbsp; Intrigued by the offer, Steiner contacted the prospective buyer who reiterated his intention and talked specific terms for the purchase.&nbsp; &ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t this a coincidence,&rdquo; remarked Steiner to his wife, Julia.&nbsp; &ldquo;We were just talking about the future of our business and here comes this new offer. This is the fourth offer we&rsquo;ve had.&rdquo;&nbsp; &ldquo;We should consider a sale of the business seriously,&rdquo; said Julia, &ldquo;even though you were thinking of upgrading the site to improve traffic.&rdquo;&nbsp; &ldquo;How much time do we have to examine the offers?&rdquo; asked Julia to her husband.&nbsp; &ldquo;The current buyer has made an offer to one other business and he told me that it&rsquo;s either the other business or us, and not both.&nbsp; I don&rsquo;t know if he is bluffing or not, but I think we have a week to decide for all four,&rdquo; answered Steiner.&nbsp