In early 2005, Emily Owens was halfway through her Ph.D. thesis in economics at the University of Maryland. Her topic: the deterrence effect of long prison sentences. She had just received data from ...

DENVER – A new audit finds that hundreds of Colorado inmates may be serving incorrect sentences due to clerical errors. The review is still ongoing but has already led prison officials to warn judges ...

DENVER (AP/CBS4) - Hundreds of Colorado criminals were apparently given erroneous prison sentences, and judges and corrections officials across the state are scrambling to keep them from getting out ...

OLYMPIA — Incorrect language on a court sentencing form improperly shaved off community supervision and treatment time for at least 73 Washington state sex offenders participating in a special program ...

Last Tuesday, a prisoner walked out of the Anchorage jail a free man. Unremarkable, except it was five months after his sentence ended. By the Department of Corrections' own admission, the man — who ...

OLYMPIA — State lawmakers are offering a simple fix they hope will avoid the errors, poor handwriting and other problems that have led to inaccurate prison and community-supervision sentences for ...