What if we provided substance abuse treatment from the point of admission, and cognitive behavioral treatment? What if we just started with drug possession offenders? Re-entry programs are showing significant promise in reducing recidivism and so are diversion and deferred prosecution programs utilizing substance abuse treatment and cognitive behavioral therapies. We should be implementing similar programs over the duration of an inmate’s incarceration.

On Friday, the day of his retirement, U.S. Magistrate Judge David Duncan ordered the Arizona Department of Corrections to pay $1.4 million for continued noncompliance with court-ordered prison health care standards.

Ultimately, we will never achieve meaningful sentencing reform in Arizona with both sides bashing the other and making “straw dog” arguments based on false mischaracterization of the other’s positions. Instead, we must take baby steps and then measure results as they inform public safety, in much the same way that the recently released APAAC report undertook its detailed and valuable account of recidivism in all categories of offenses. Knowing which categories of offenders recidivate least often can suggest sentencing reductions that are plausible and realistic.

So, while Phoenix may be bigger, it turns out bigger is not always better, especially when talking about jail populations. The real winners will likely be the taxpayers of Tucson and Pima County because their leaders realize less is more.

Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday denied a request for a reduced sentence for a former Phoenix police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man while on duty in 2010.

The 6-3 vote Thursday for HB 2067 would impose prison terms of up to a year for medical professionals who fail to conduct a full medical exam before issuing the required state certification to buy and use the drug.

Gov. Doug Ducey issued an executive order today directing the Arizona Department of Administration to change its hiring procedures to handle criminal histories differently.

The Arizona Board of Executive Clemency is requesting about $34,000 to fund a part-time position needed to conduct probable cause hearings – an obligation the board has not fulfilled since funding was cut in 2010.

Not only has American society come a long way since the so-called war on drugs began during the Reagan administration, but our attitudes toward drugs have changed as well. When harsher enforcement and penalties began during the 1980s, “opioid epidemic” had not entered our lexicon and prescription drug abuse was nascent.

More than one-fifth of Arizona prisoners are serving time for drug offenses, according to a new report from a justice reform group.