Lawmakers like to say that a budget is a reflection of values. But it’s also a collection of policies, some of which might not have stood a chance as stand-alone measures.

This is the body of highwayman William Whitney Brazelton propped against a wall on Tucson’s Main Street as a caution to anyone planning a career in crime.

Policy leaders from across the country met in Arizona today to discuss whether Arizona needs to consider sentencing reform. Representatives of organizations with very different political view came together with a shared commitment to both safe and strong neighborhoods, and smaller numbers of people behind bars.

In handling many of the state’s most politically-charged cases, Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk has drawn on lessons from the Nazis’ rise to power.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle acted to make life tougher for Arizona criminals during this year’s legislative session by passing a slate of criminal justice bills.

Conservative Republicans who dominate the Legislature say the timing is right to overhaul Arizona’s civil justice system, arguing the changes are needed to improve the state’s business climate.

But so far, their success has been mixed.

A court hearing is scheduled Friday on a request to block Arizona's planned award of contracts for 5,000 additional private prison beds authorized under a 2009 state law.

Managers of the Coconino County Jail say the inmate population has reached "crisis" levels for the third time in three years.

In recent weeks, we’ve seen a criminal executed and another execution is scheduled pending a last-minute review. Every time Arizona doles out the most severe punishment humans have the capacity to inflict on one another, I find myself asking: When criminals are killed for their crimes, what are we hoping will result, and what actually results?

Arizona should have a zero tolerance policy for men who engage in sexual intercourse with underage prostitutes, a former congresswoman said Tuesday. Linda Smith, founder of the advocacy group Shared Hope International, presented the state with a grade of C for its efforts to protect children from sex trafficking.