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APPEALS COURT BLOCKS EARLY RELEASE OF MURDERERS
The California 3rd District Court of Appeal has held that state law does not authorize the early release of murderers serving indeterminate sentences in state prison. The July 28 decision in CJLF v. CDCR invalidates regulations adopted by corrections officials which had allowed the release of convicted murderers years before they had served the minimum term of 15 or 25 years to life in prison. The lawsuit brought by CJLF on behalf of victims and their families argued that the CDCR overstepped its authority by allowing the state’s most violent criminals to earn credits for good behavior to reduce their minimum terms.............read more >>
7/30/2025    |    PRESS RELEASE    |   Prisons: Credits
CRIME & CONSEQUENCES BLOG
STUDY: $380 MILLION FEDERALLY FUNDED JUSTICE REINVESTMENT INITIATIVE FAILS TO DELIVER ON PUBLIC SAFETY PROMISES
Researchers at CJLF have released a report indicating that the federally-funded Justice Reinvestment Initiative has largely failed to deliver on its promise of enhancing public safety while reducing incarceration. The grant program has spent about $380 million since inception, and it was funded for $32 million in grants in fiscal year 2025. The Administration’s latest budget proposal, released May 30, would eliminate this funding............read more >>
6/30/2025    |    PRESS RELEASE
SUPREME COURT CLOSES LOOPHOLE IN FEDERAL LAW LIMITING APPEALS
The U.S. Supreme Court today unanimously rejected a Texas child molester’s claim that a federal law prohibiting successive petitions challenging convictions and sentences has been misinterpreted to deny him his rights, closing a loophole opened by the federal court of appeals in New York. Rivers' attorneys asserted that when Congress passed AEDPA in 1996 it intended that a defendant could amend his petition four years after it was rejected by a judge and while the case is on appeal before an appellate court. In its decision, the Court reaffirmed the intent of Congress to limit the number of times the federal courts must hear repeated claims from guilty criminals...........read more >>
6/12/2025    |    PRESS RELEASE    |   Habeas corpus: Post-judgment amendment