A Tucson man who spent 42 years in prison on 28 arson-related murder counts that were later vacated cannot now collect damages for the years he spent behind bars, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.

In a recent guest opinion, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery peddles a grab bag of outdated and weak measures – some over 40 years old – to claim that Arizona leads in criminal justice reform. If only.

Arizona’s criminal justice system is not perfect. There is always room for improvement in any system, and I and other prosecutors remain willing to engage in productive discussions and initiatives to improve criminal justice system outcomes for crime victims, the public we serve, and defendants to reduce recidivism.

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.