KUAR | By Hunter Field / Arkansas Advocate

The proposed overhaul to Arkansas’ criminal sentencing and parole system moves in the opposite direction of several surrounding states and most of the U.S. and world.

Facing a growing body of research that more incarceration does not lower violent crime rates, policymakers elsewhere have focused on criminal justice measures that reduce the number of offenders in prison.

But the “truth in sentencing” legislation approved by the Arkansas Senate along party lines on Monday aims to increase the time those convicted of the state’s most serious offenses spend behind bars.

https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/local-regional-news/2023-04-04/arkansas-senate-votes-for-truth-in-sentencing-bill-bucking-national-and-international-trends

*Lauren Justice For NPR*
Lt. Keith Immerfall walks past prison cells at Waupun Correctional Institution, a maximum security prison in Waupun, Wis.

Prosecutors in Arkansas will seek a 10-year prison sentence next week for a former Arizona politician who acknowledged running an illegal adoption scheme in three states involving women from the Marshall Islands.

Prosecutors said former Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen defrauded state courts, violated an international adoption compact and took advantage of birth mothers.

https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/post/former-politician-involved-adoption-scheme-be-sentenced-january

Former Politician Involved In Adoption Scheme To Be Sentenced In January
Prosecutors in Arkansas will seek a 10-year prison sentence next week for a former Arizona politician who acknowledged running an illegal adoption scheme in three states involving women from the Marshall Islands. Prosecutors said former Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen defrauded state courts, violated an international adoption compact and took advantage of birth mothers.