fbpx

Kurt Altman

Mar 12, 2021

Report lists economic benefits of early prison release

A report detailing economic benefits of proposed expanded earned release credits gives a look into a possible new middle ground in the debate on revamping Arizona’s prison system.

Jun 18, 2020

Paul Petersen pleads guilty, faces jail time

  Former Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen, who was accused of paying women from the Marshall Islands to deliver their babies in the U.S. and of organizing the children’s adoption to American families, today pleaded guilty to four fraudulent charges. He will face time in prison and has to pay fines of up to $650,000. […]

Jun 5, 2020

Left, right seek limit to immunity in police brutality cases

If you or a family member has been injured in an auto accident or diagnosed with mesothelioma, a barrage of television ads will remind you that you can sue. But if a police officer shoots you, sics a dog on you or breaks into your house, you probably have no case. That’s thanks to the […]

Feb 21, 2020

Players in movement to remake Arizona’s criminal justice system

Since conservatives got on board with revamping Arizona’s sentencing laws, bills to do that no longer lay unheard, not considered. And as the movement has taken hold over the past few years, a host of groups and people have made their presence known at the Legislature. Following are some of them.

Nov 5, 2019

Petersen pleads not guilty anew, hires prominent lawyer

Paul Petersen, the recently suspended Maricopa County Assessor, today pleaded not guilty for the second time in two weeks on allegations that he ran a child smuggling ring.

Oct 28, 2019

County board votes to suspend Petersen

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously today to suspend County Assessor Paul Petersen without pay on the grounds he’s in federal custody in Arkansas and can’t serve.

Oct 23, 2019

County board starts process to suspend Petersen from office

Maricopa County Assessor and alleged child trafficker Paul Petersen will find out if he is suspended without pay from his elected post when the county board of supervisors votes on October 28.

Feb 5, 2019

Republicans introduce bills to lighten criminal sentencing

A Republican-sponsored bill would allow judges to depart from mandatory sentences for certain crimes.

Rep. David Stringer, R-Prescott, answers questions Wednesday about his comments which were interpreted by some as racist. Stringer said he was not a racist but simply was detailing his views on the effects of rapid immigration on the country. With him is the Rev. Jarrett Maupin who agreed to let Stringer explain his comments to leaders of the African-American community in Phoenix. PHOTO BY HOWARD FISCHER/CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES
Jul 13, 2018

Stringer continues criminal justice reform effort amid controversy

At a meeting with a group of African Americans last month, Rep. David Stringer didn’t exactly apologize for his remarks that immigration is “an existential threat” to the United States.

Rep. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottsdale, stands at her desk on the floor of the Arizona House of Representatives, before a vote to expel Rep. Don Shooter, R-Yuma. Ugenti-Rita’s allegations of sexual harassment by Shooter led a host of women and one man to air similar allegations against him. (Photo by Katie Campbell/Arizona Capitol Times)
May 29, 2018

Accuser smeared in wake of lawmaker’s expulsion

Despite having cast a historical vote to expel Yuma Republican Don Shooter on February 1, some lawmakers in the Arizona House of Representatives tried to put one of his victims — a colleague of theirs — on trial.

Kurt Altman (Photo by Paulina Pineda/Arizona Capitol Times)
Apr 30, 2018

Kurt Altman: Baseball wash-up lands in law and public policy

Kurt Altman, the state director for Right on Crime, a group that pushes conservative solutions to reduce crime, went to college to play baseball, but he ended up an attorney whose career has taken him from facing down and defending criminals in county and federal courtrooms to lobbying for “Right to Try” legislation in 46 state Capitols.

In this Aug. 25, 2014 file photo, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery speaks during a news conference in Phoenix. Hundreds of immigrants who have been denied bail under a strict Arizona law will now have the opportunity to be released after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014 in the closely watched case. The high court kept intact a lower-court ruling from three weeks ago that struck down the law, which was passed in 2006 amid a series of immigration crackdowns in Arizona over the past decade. Montgomery and Sehriff Joe Arpaio defended the law before the courts.(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
Mar 26, 2018

The Breakdown, Episode 11: Where do we even begin?

Last week, the Capitol was abuzz with everything from talk of criminal justice reform to how to fund Arizona's public education system - and that's just the beginning.