Blog News

THE FIRST STEP ACT – What it is and why it is important – Part One – Good Conduct Time and Earned Time Credits

By Sean R. Francis This is part one of a series of blog posts that will breakdown and explain the First Step Act and how it applies to federal offenders. On December 21, 2018, President Trump signed the First Step Act (FSA) into law. https://www.bop.gov/inmates/fsa/faq.jsp This piece of legislation is one of the largest measures seeking to reform the federal criminal justice system...

The Federal Bureau of Prisons Response to COVID – 19

By Sean R. Francis, MS President, Justice Solutions of America, Inc. COVID-19 has quickly become a worldwide pandemic and has plunged the United States into a national emergency not seen in recent times. According to the CDC the virus is spread through person to person transmission. Generally, this is recognized as people who are “in close contact with each other.” The...

How State Prisons Are Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Sean R. Francis, M.S.President, Justice Solutions of America, Inc. The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have caught the entire world off guard but nowhere is that more apparent than in our nation’s jails and prisons. Indeed, the recent outbreak has placed a number of measures, once considered unthinkable, on the table in an attempt to halt the virus’ spread inside...

UTAH FEDERAL COURT FINDS FIRST STEP ACT ALLOWS REDUCTION OF STACKED SENTENCES

By Sean R. Francis, M.S.President, Justice Solutions of America In what is sure to be one of many cases asking the federal courts to clarify the scope of the First Step Act (FSA), the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah has found that the FSA allows judicial relief for stacked sentences. Mandatory minimums led to a 55-year sentence for...

THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL REALITY OF SEXUAL OFFENDER LAWS FACING INMATES IN STATE PRISON AND BEYOND.

THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL REALITY OF SEXUAL OFFENDER LAWS FACING            INMATES IN STATE PRISON AND BEYOND.  A DISCUSSION ABOUT HOW THESE LAWS DO NOT KEEP US SAFE AND ACTUALLY PUT US ALL AT RISK AND WEAKEN OUR LIBERTIES.  By Sean R. Francis, MSPresident, Justice Solutions of America, Inc. ABSTRACTSince the early 1990’s multiple laws have ben enacted in response...

BUREAU OF PRISONS RAMPS UP COVID-19 RESPONSE

By Sean R. Francis, M.S. President, Justice Solutions of America, Inc.  While they initially were slow to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, recent signs show that the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is aggressively taking steps to stop the spread of the deadly virus in their institutions. In March Attorney General William Barr ordered the BOP to immediately expedite the transfer of...

THE CORRELATION BETWEEN CRIMINAL OFFENDING AND TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURIES IN OFFENDERS IN THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS

By Sean R. Francis, MS President Justice Solutions of America, Inc.  The link between traumatic brain injuries ( TBI ) and criminal behavior can no longer be ignored or disputed. Inmates in America’s prisons who have suffered a TBI at some point in their life are overrepresented. Some studies have found that as many as 60 percent of inmates have suffered a...

THE PREVALENCE OF POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER IN AMERICAS INMATES AND WHAT CAN BE DONE

By Sean R. Francis, MS President Justice Solutions of America, Inc.  It has been estimated that one in seven inmates in Western countries suffers from some form of mental illness ( Goff, et al, 2007). There is also significant evidence that many if not most prison inmates have suffered some form of abuse or neglect as children. Therefore, the prevalence of Post-Traumatic...

DRUG AND SEX OFFENDER TREATMENT OFFERED TO INMATES IN THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS

By Sean R. Francis, MS President Justice Solutions of America, Inc.  Currently, there are over 154,000 inmates in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons ( BOP). The vast majority of these inmates suffer from at least one mental health diagnosis. To fulfill the primary mission of the BOP, which is the protection of the public, BOP has implemented various mental...

WordPress Video Lightbox