prison

Bill To Compensate Innocent Who Spend Time Behind Bars

Ross Reynolds — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 20:30:00 +0000

Yesterday in Olympia the House Judiciary Committee passed a bill that would compensate people who served time in prison for crimes they didn’t commit and were exonerated of. The exonerated people would be given $50,000 for each year spent behind bars. This isn’t the first time this legislation has been proposed but it is the first time that it has bipartisan support. Ross Reynolds takes a closer look at the bill and who it's intended to help.

Study: Private Prisons Lead To Fewer Jobs

Jessica Robinson — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:04:21 +0000

Researchers say the economic benefits of prisons often don't materialize for rural communities. That's according to a new paper by Northwest sociologists. In fact, they found communities with private prisons fare worse than they did before.

Washington State University sociologist Gregory Hook says rural areas that opt to build prisons, even courting them with tax breaks, have one main goal in mind: jobs.

“You know, you look across the way and you say 'Oh there's a prison.

Washington Leads Nation As Net Importer Of Out-Of-State Parolees

Austin Jenkins — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 14:59:05 +0000

OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend 2009. Maurice Clemmons, an Arkansas felon living in Washington, walks into a coffee shop and guns down four Lakewood police officers. Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesman Ed Troyer described the scene as "more of an execution.”

The killings turned a spotlight on a little known agreement between all 50 states to keep tabs on each other’s parolees when they move across state lines.

MC5 Guitarist Wants Music Behind Bars

Ross Reynolds — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 19:37:58 +0000

Wayne Kramer was the guitarist of the protopunk 60s band, the MC5. When the band broke up, Kramer drifted into addiction and drug dealing which landed him in a federal prison with a four-year term. Today he works on a program called Jail Guitar Doors, working to get music into prisons. Ross Reynolds talks with Wayne Kramer about music programs in prison.