- Prison reform in Costa Rica, focused on a specific group of women, has been a success and a model for other Latin American nations and around the world. This reform, known as “77 bis” and implemented in 2013, reduced prison terms for women who were convicted of smuggling drugs into prisons to a minimum of three to eight years, if they meet certain conditions. The new law also permits the use of alternatives to incarceration for sentences of three-years or less. The immediate result of this reform was the initial release of female prisoners which also addressed the problem of overcrowding in women’s prisons. (“Costa Rica: Could Drug-Law Reform for Women Open Door to Wider Change?” Christian Science Monitor, Feb. 13, 2018)
- US Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Trump administration are suing California over the state’s sanctuary laws, claiming they violate federal supremacy over immigration law. In announcing the federal lawsuit in Sacramento, Sessions exchanged verbal insults with Governor Jerry Brown and other officials. Sessions specifically called out Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf who publicly warned of pending federal immigration raids in the Bay Area. (“Trump Administration Sues California Over Immigration Laws,” New York Times, Mar. 6, 2018;“Some of the California ‘sanctuary’ Laws Targeted by Feds Could Be Vulnerable, Legal Experts Say,” Los Angeles Tomes, Mar. 8, 2018; “Jeff Sessions’ Lawsuit Is An Invitation for California to Break the Law,” Los Angeles Tomes, Mar. 8, 2018)
- In a rare defeat for the National Rifle Association, Florida’s Republican Governor Rick Scott signed a new gun safety law, which imposes a 3-day waiting period on gun sales and raises the legal age to purchase a gun from 18 to 21. But the law doesn’t ban assault weapons, sought by student activist survivors of the Parkland school massacre, who marched on the state capital. The NRA is now suing to block the law. (“Florida Gun Bill: What’s in It, and What Isn’t,” New York Times, Mar. 8, 2018;“The Arms Dealer,” New Yorker, Mar. 5, 2018)
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