Talk of alternatives out west

I am in the middle of a western swing: I had the honor of talking about sentencing at the Tenth Circuit conference this past Friday in Colorado Springs, and now I am in Tucson to participate in this great event on “New Media and the Courts” at the Rehnquist Center.  Hotel connectivity has allowed me to keep up with the sentencing news, and I was intrigued to see these two items from the west with incarceration alternatives as a unifying theme:

• From Nevada, here is a local editorial headlined “Overcrowded prisons: State Legislature should consider alternative sentencing for nonviolent offenders.”

• From California, here is an article on an upcoming high-profile sentencing headlined “Samueli’s Attorneys Suggest Fines, Probation For Billionaire”

I am not sure either piece will help me sound smart at the new media symposium this week, but I kind of think continued blogging is a must to justify my participation in the event.