Government sent 3,900 economic stimulus checks to prison inmates — 2,200 got to keep them
- By Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press Writer
- On Wednesday August 26, 2009, 9:28 pm EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government sent about 3,900 economic stimulus payments of $250 each this spring to people who were in no position to use the money to help stimulate the economy: prison inmates.
The checks were part of the massive economic recovery package approved by Congress and President Barack Obama in February. About 52 million Social Security recipients, railroad retirees and those receiving Supplemental Security Income were eligible for the one-time checks.
The action was taken by Assembly Speaker Karen Bass. It was unclear whether Senate leader Darrell Steinberg would go along with the limited version. The sentencing review is one of his priorities.
By Michael RothfeldAugust 24, 2009 | 10:16 p.m.
Reporting from Sacramento – Assembly Speaker Karen Bass on Monday removed plans to create a commission to reevaluate California’s sentencing laws from a package intended to cut spending on state prisons, saying she expected to win approval for the revised proposal later this week.
It was unclear whether Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D- Sacramento) — senators ratified a $525-million package of spending reductions Thursday — would go along with the Assembly’s limited version. The sentencing review is one of Steinberg’s priorities, and his house would have to approve the Assembly’s changes before the legislation could go to the governor.
Plaxico Burress Going to Prison for 2 Years
By JOHN ELIGON
Published: August 20, 2009
Plaxico Burress, the former Giants wide receiver who accidentally shot himself in the leg with an illegal gun last November, will be sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty Thursday to a weapons charge.
Wearing a dark blue suit and chewing on his bottom lip, Mr. Burress quietly answered “Yes, sir,” after Justice Michael H. Melkonian of State Supreme Court in Manhattan asked if he wanted to accept the plea deal, which his lawyer had negotiated with the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 20, 2009
After a highly charged debate, the Senate approved a plan to trim California’s prison population by 27,000 inmates, acting over the objections of Republican lawmakers and law enforcement groups. The proposal would let thousands of inmates be released early from state prison or avoid prison time altogether. It is intended to cut $1.2 billion from corrections spending as part of a state deficit-cutting deal struck last month. The measure passed the Senate on a 21-to-19 vote. Passage was less certain in the Assembly.
Posted: Aug. 19, 2009
Now that California is no longer interested, Michigan’s prison in Standish is open to federal inmates — other than detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba — or those from other states, Gov. Jennifer Granholm said Tuesday.
State Corrections Director Patricia Caruso has lobbied the head of federal prisons to use the maximum-security facility in Standish for federal prisoners, said Russ Marlan, spokesman for the Department of Corrections.
And Granholm said she’ll continue to solicit Pennsylvania
— and other states — to send their excess prisoners to Michigan.
