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A federal judge on Wednesday ordered an Arkansas farm to pay 24 Mexican workers a total of $36,000 for violating federal employment laws and for breaching the terms of the workers' contracts under the federal government's H-2A guest-worker program. Judge Harry F. Barnes of U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas in El Dorado [...]

... for a corrections system that already strains capacity by more than 1,000, reports the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Every dollar spent on inmates, state officials and corrections experts say, takes money away from students. Arkansas' prison growth is expected to eclipse the national average of 13 percent, says a new study ... -growing prison systems in Texas and Mississippi, both forecast to grow less than half as fast as Arkansas'. Drug addicts account for more than one in five prisoners in ...

... ODD is focused on the speed of decisions. Nothing in this report tells me about the accuracy of the decisions made by the 'seasoned people' at the Arkansas ODD. Fast and cheap doesn't equate with accurate decisions, and it seems to me that when ... for claimants in New York and New Jersey, who will be forced to wait even longer for a hearing as more cases are appealed. From the Arkansas Democrat Gazette - August 22, 2009 Allowance data from SAOR (State Agency Operations Report) prepared on 12/12/ ...

"Beebe a cautious death-penalty backer," is Seth Blomeley's report in the Sunday Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Gov. Mike Beebe said he favors the death penalty ... asked me what's the worst part about being governor. It's to call a widow or a mother of an Arkansas soldier killed. Fortunately, after my first year in office, that's slowed ... those on death row. The last time a death row inmate was granted clemency in Arkansas was in 1999, when then-Gov. Mike Huckabee commuted the death sentence of Bobby Ray ...

"Bill to keep executions from public study stalls," is Charlie Frago's report in today's Arkansas Democrat Gazette. An attempt to amend state laws on executions stalled in a Senate committee Wednesday after members questioned the need for secrecy ... other activities. And: Allen said if the legislation doesn't become law, the issue will hinge on a pending case before the Arkansas Supreme Court involving Frank Williams Jr., a death-row inmate who contends that the state's execution procedures are ...

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette reports, "Judge rules executions by injection no violation." A federal judge on Wednesday upheld the constitutionality of Arkansas' lethal injection procedures, removing a legal barrier to the execution of four inmates who had challenged the procedures. Frank Williams Jr., Terrick Nooner, Don Davis and Jack Harold Jones are among death-row inmates around the country who have filed lawsuits contending that the combination ...

"Bill on lethal injections altered, sent to Senate," is Charlie Frago's Arkansas Democrat Gazette report, in today's edition. A state Senate panel, satisfied with an amendment that requires public disclosure of the chemicals and ... and carrying out quick, painless and humane executions. "Panel endorses lethal injection information bill," is Rob Moritz' report for the Arkansas News Bureau. All state policies and procedures applicable to carrying out an execution, except the chemicals involved, would ...

In an Arkansas federal court lawsuit filed Thursday, Tony Alamo Ministries and two of its members sued the Arkansas Department of Human Services , claiming that it has engaged in a campaign of harassment and intimidation against the church. State children ... endangered by practices such as underage marriages and beatings for ignoring church rules. (See prior posting.) The Arkansas Democrat Gazette and AP this week reported on the lawsuit. The complaint alleges that parents of the children are being ...

... for sadists: In opposing a legislative measure in March to prevent the torture of household pets and horses, the outdoor editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette warned homeowners that if the bill passed they could be arrested if their pussycat hassled birds at a ... , fanned by the Farm Bureau, frightened legislators into voting to let the sicko torturers, abusers, and starvers of Arkansas animals proceed with their fun. Best hole: A sheriff's deputy lunched at the International House of Pancakes at ...

... Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports, "Study indicates pattern in sentences." Frank Williams Jr. and the three other people who have been sentenced to death in the judicial district ... usually more likely than blacks to receive death sentences, Radelet said. Arkansas' death row includes 24 blacks and 15 whites. Baldus, Radelet ... 1992 death of Lafayette County farmer Clyde Spence, who was white. Last week, the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld a ruling barring Williams' execution, pending a final decision ...