The Federal Bureau of Prisons can petition the court for the early release of a prisoner for extraordinary and compelling reasons, called compassionate release. It is typically granted in cases where the inmate is dying or has a debilitating medical condition. This story highlights the case of a former Massachusetts House Speaker who was sentenced for corruption in 2012. He is dying of cancer and the Federal Bureau of Prisons has filed a motion to release him early. Listen to hear more about this extraordinary type of release and debate whether sick prisoners should be released for compassionate reasons.
Update: A federal judge ruled to grant the Massachusetts House Speaker early release because of his health.
Story Length: 3:45
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June 3, 2016
3:30
Sending someone to jail because they can’t pay a debt is against the law. But often courts in the United States imprison people who cannot pay court fines. For example, homeless people can be ticketed for sleeping in a park and then put into prison for not paying the fine. The city of Colorado Springs is stopping this practice. The city is also paying people who have previously been held in jail under these circumstances. Listen to hear more about this new policy and debate the pros and cons with your students.
Read MoreNovember 13, 2015
3:56
Presidential campaigns reported their latest fundraising totals recently. There is a shift in campaign fundraising focus from a candidate’s own committee raising money to independent superPACs. A candidate’s own campaign committee can't take contributions greater than $2,700. SuperPACs have no contribution limits at all. Also, a candidate cannot raise big money for a superPAC, but it's fine for a superPAC to raise money for a candidate's campaign. Are the fundraising laws fair? Listen to this story with your students and debate whether political campaign spending should be limited.
Read MoreNovember 9, 2015
3:39
Ideas are changing across the nation about who should be behind bars. Federal sentencing guidelines have recently changed. As a result, tens of thousands of people serving prison terms for drug trafficking will be released before their sentences end. These sentences are being cut short by an average of 2 years. There are thousands of undocumented immigrants in prisons, and deportation proceedings will begin in these cases. For others, probation officers are being hired to manage the increased work. Listen to hear more about how the United States government changed sentences for drug criminals, how this is affecting current inmates and what it could mean for the general public.
Read MoreJanuary 10, 2014
4:23
Food shouldn’t be used as a form of punishment, but some prisons do it. In some prisons, “the loaf” is a bland form of food, given to disruptive inmates. Is this ethical? Listen to this story and discuss the merits of this form of discipline.
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