• US: Prison Officials Thwart Compassionate Release
    Nov 30, 2012
    The Federal Bureau of Prisons blocks all but a few federal prisoners from compassionate release, Human Rights Watch and Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) said in a report released today. The 128-page report is the first comprehensive examination of how compassionate release in the federal system works.
  • US/California: Continue Effort to Halt Death Penalty
    Nov 7, 2012
    California voters’ failure to abolish the death penalty perpetuates a barbaric practice and places the state out of step with national trends
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Sentencing and Re-Entry Policy

  • US: Prison Officials Thwart Compassionate Release
    Nov 30, 2012
    The Federal Bureau of Prisons blocks all but a few federal prisoners from compassionate release, Human Rights Watch and Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) said in a report released today. The 128-page report is the first comprehensive examination of how compassionate release in the federal system works.
  • US/California: Continue Effort to Halt Death Penalty
    Nov 7, 2012
    California voters’ failure to abolish the death penalty perpetuates a barbaric practice and places the state out of step with national trends
  • US/California: ‘Three-Strikes’ Vote a Humane Step
    Nov 7, 2012
    Voters’ approval of Proposition 36, which limits the reach of California’s “three-strikes” statute, is an important step toward a more humane sentencing system in the state.
  • US/Pennsylvania: Don't Codify Excessive Sentences for Children
    Oct 19, 2012
    Human Rights Watch writes to urge Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett to veto Senate Bill 850, which would maintain life without parole sentences as an option for child offenders. The bill would codify excessive sentences for children that are inconsistent with international human rights law to which all US states are bound.
  • US/California: New Hope for Youth Offenders
    Sep 30, 2012

    The law on youth sentencing signed by Governor Jerry Brown of California on September 30, 2012, provides hope for nearly 300 youth offenders sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Human Rights Watch said today. The new law, Senate Bill 9, will allow people who were under age 18 at the time of their crime to ask the sentencing court to review their case and consider a new sentence permitting parole after serving 25 years in prison.

  • US/California: Chance for Justice for Youth
    Aug 16, 2012
    The California State Assembly’s approval on August 16, 2012, of a bill to allow review of life without parole sentences for youth offenders is a step toward justice.
  • US Supreme Court: Positive Youth Sentencing Ruling
    Jun 25, 2012
    The Supreme Court decision barring the mandatory sentencing of juvenile offenders to life without parole recognizes children’s capacity for change. It also recognizes their distinct status from adults under international human rights and constitutional law.
  • South Sudan: Arbitrary Detentions, Dire Prison Conditions
    Jun 21, 2012
    Flawed processes, unlawful detentions, and dire conditions in South Sudan’s prisons reflect the urgent need to improve the new nation’s fledgling justice system.
  • Frail and Elderly Prisoners: Do They Still Belong Behind Bars?
    May 28, 2012
    As the US confronts a growing population of geriatric prisoners, it is time to reconsider whether they really need to be locked up. Prison keeps dangerous people off the streets. But how many prisoners whose minds and bodies have been whittled away by age are dangerous?
  • Kuwait: Emir Should Sign New Detention Bill
    May 14, 2012

    The Kuwaiti parliament passed a law on May 10, 2012, that would provide an important expansion of due process protections in Kuwait. The law would eliminate unlimited renewals of pretrial detention and significantly limit the periods allowed for pretrial investigative detentions. The Emir of Kuwait, Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, should sign the bill into law.

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