IN THE COURTS - Supreme Court Strikes Down Immunity For Bad Warrant - read online free

Sep 29, 2026

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February 27, 2004 issue presents U.S. criminal-justice updates with a courts section and state-by-state briefs. Coverage highlights Supreme Court decisions including striking down immunity for bad warrants, guidance requiring prosecutors to share more investigation facts with defense, and rulings on retroactivity of capital sentences. Additional items address eligibility for employee privileges and sex-offender registry issues, alongside program and capacity notes across states.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

IN THIS ISSUE

IN THE COURTS

ACROSS THE STATES

Iowa, Minnesota

FUNDING

Child Abuse

DEATH ROW

Oklahoma, Texas

CorrectionSpIGEST

California Experiments With Education Program To Boost Skills At Lower Cost

NEBRASKA REFORMS END 10 YEARS OF INCREASES

Georgia Targets Test for HCV At Admission

February 27,2004Vol.35,No.8 # IN THIS ISSUE Nebraska's Reforms ReverseDecade Of Rising PressuresOn Prison Capacity…………2Georgia Targets Hepatitis CTests At Admission…………2Maryland Would Overlook PastDrug Use By Recruits ………3National Youth Court CenterConducts Training Seminars3 # IN THE COURTS Supreme Court Strikes DownImmunity For Bad Warrant...3Justices Decide ProsecutorsMust Share More Facts FromInvestigations With Defense 3Supreme Court Hears ArgumentsOn Retroactivity Of CapitalSentences By Judges ………4Justices Rule Older EmployeesAre Eligible For Privileges.…46th Circuit Says Sex OffenderRegistry Isn't Allegation……4 ACROSS THE STATES Iowa… ……………5Minnesota…… …………5 FUNDINGChild Abuse………… …5 DEATH ROW Oklahoma…………………6Texas……………………… 5 CorrectionSpIGEST The only independent news service for the corrections professional California is preparing to experi-ment with a model education programtouted to upgrade inmate skills whilelowering the prison system's opera-tional costs. The “Bridging Program”wouldbegin as soon as an offender is con-victed and awaiting classification.The early intervention allows inmatesto begin immediately accruing creditsfor parole or early release. Although the model program hasyet to overcome litigation hurdlesthrown up by union officials,the leg-islature in adopting it projectedBridging would be a critical compo-nent of $35 million in cuts for educa-tion and vocational training outlays. The Service Employees Interna-tional Union alleges the programwould violate safety standards by put-ting teachers and inmates at risk. The union further purports thatthe program would amount to an adhoc educational system that would beineffective and would be adminis-tered during the most traumatic pe-riod for a new prisoner. Despite the sidetrack in court,theessence of the program is self-motivation from inmates that want tolearn. Much like a correspondencecourse,inmates would study and pre- # California Experiments With EducationProgram To Boost Skills At Lower Cost pare without the daily oversight of aninstructor or the formal structure of aclassroom setting. Instead a visiting teacher wouldcall on inmates individually to coachthem over difficulties.In some cases,the tutoring would occur in a cell ordormitory setting,possibly a libraryor other available space. The California Department ofCorrections plans to assign 60 teach-ers to reception centers to carry outthe program.Displaced vocational in-structors would have first options onthe distance learning positions. The department counts on theBridging program to be a key elementin a broad-based plan to reduce costsand improve the recidivism rate bybetter preparing offenders for life af-ter prison. The positive side of the programis that motivated prisoners can imme-diately begin to learn.While thenegatives are that a larger number ofinmates with less inspiration will failto gain any educational benefits. The legislature charged the de-partment with paring $400 millionfrom a $5.7 billion budget for 32 fa-cilities and 161,000 inmates.The cor-rectional staff of 49,000 also super-vises another 140,000 offenders on parole and probation. Page 2 # NEBRASKA REFORMS END10 YEARS OF INCREASES Nebraska's parole reforms thataccelerated releases has produced adecline in the inmate population aftera decade of steady increases. Since July,the inmate populationdeclined 2 percent in the second halfof 2003 to dip below 4,000—although there was a January bumpupward. Still,compared to the 32 percentjump in the inmate population from1995 to 2002 state correctional au-thorities believe they have made sub-stantial progress in reversing thetrend. The prison population boomed inthe 1990s after the legislature length-ened sentences,curbed parole andtook other actions to get tough oncrime. But the soaring costs of prisonoperations and the increase in thenumber of nonviolent offenders serv-ing sentences for drug violations(more than ha

FAQs

Which Supreme Court action is reported in the courts section?

The issue reports that the Supreme Court struck down immunity for a bad warrant.

What change does Nebraska’s update describe?

Nebraska’s parole reforms are described as accelerating releases and producing a decline in the inmate population after years of increases.

How does the Georgia section describe hepatitis C testing?

Georgia is reported to selectively target new admissions for hepatitis C testing to manage health-care costs and identify acute problems.

Sep 29, 2026

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