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Senator tries to embarrass GOP colleagues into voting for immigration bill
The 16-14 vote against SB1279 came despite exhortations from Sen. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, who said it only makes sense to ensure that people who already are breaking federal law don’t get a chance to continue to prey on Arizonans.
Bail bond industry to fight change to ‘no money’ system
The commercial bail bond industry will fight any attempts to transform Arizona’s bail system, an industry spokesman said.
MCSO says it had no hand in DES false entries against fraud suspect
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said a surveillance video dispels a Department of Economic Security allegation that one of its detention officers had entered false information on a court form about a DES employee arrested on suspicion of food stamp fraud.
Arizona police sign on to White House plan to cut jail populations
A federal program calls on police agencies to train officers to handle mental health crises, urges police and health officials to share data on people who have crossed their paths recently, and encourages use of data-based tools to assess risk and release low-risk people awaiting trial in jail simply because they can’t make bail.
Hundreds of Arizona prison inmates have used razors, drugs in attempted suicides
There were nearly 500 incidents in Arizona’s prison system when convicts attempted to either hurt or kill themselves in 2015, despite efforts to push for better mental health treatment and a legal settlement ordering the Department of Corrections to improve psychiatric services.
Supreme Court explores ways to keep the poor out of jail
Following a national trend, Arizona’s court system is going to look at the way it treats poor people who struggle to pay their fines.
Montenegro recommends pardon for immigrant deported after drug crimes
The Board of Executive Clemency and an immigration hawk state representative are asking for the state to pardon a man living in the country illegally after being deported for drug-related crimes.
Lawsuit alleges officer revealed inmate’s role as informant
A former Arizona jail inmate alleges in a lawsuit that a detention officer endangered his life a year ago by revealing to gang members that he was helping investigators as an informant.
Phone call rates squeeze inmate families, boost state prison revenues
Prison rights advocates say the calling costs inmate family members face are the result of contracts between phone providers and prison systems that give phone service monopolies to providers while providing an additional revenue stream to prisons. Arizona has the fifth-highest 15-minute call cost in the country, according to the advocacy group Prison Phone Justice.
FAA issues warning against drones near Super Bowl
The Federal Aviation Administration is issuing a stern warning to hobbyists who may want to get an up-close view of the Super Bowl using an unmanned drone: Do it and you may end up in jail.
Counterattacks
Arizona, other states retaliate against ‘revenge porn’
Sparked by a new law approved by the California legislature this fall, Arizona is one of several states where lawmakers are proposing bills to criminalize “revenge porn.”
Coconino County Jail adding sweat lodge for Native American inmates
Kelvin Long, a Navajo who will serve as cultural adviser for a Native American religious program at the Coconino County Jail, inspects a circular rebar frame that will be covered with blankets to form a sweat lodge.
