Friday Roundup

In a welcome development, prisons have been a hot topic in the political blogosphere lately:

• Two must-reads: At Balkinization, UChicago professor Bernard Harcourt on dismantling mass incarceration, and a response from Rortybomb.
• At opposite ends of the spectrum, the libertarians at Hit & Run and the liberal wonks at ThinkProgress both have useful round-ups of state prison reform proposals. Plus, here’s a new report on “The State of Sentencing 2010” (PDF), from the ever-excellent Sentencing Project — check out p. 3 for a handy chart of all the major state reforms from the past year!
• Even Grover Norquist has joined the chorus for prison reform — using Texas as his example, as recommended by the good folks at Pew. (And in Florida, peer pressure from Texas seems to be working?)

In other news:

• Texas may cut all state funding for prison chaplains. (That article’s by Brandi Grissom, whose work on Texas jails and prisons you should be following.)
• Video shows jail officials waiting 11 minutes before helping keeled-over arrestee, who died of an arrhythmia.
• Right on schedule, Arkansas prosecutors come out against sentencing reform.
• The Boulder Daily Camera editorializes against solitary confinement.
• Jim McGreevey’s reinvention as a prisoner reentry volunteer.