Illinois Weighs Automatic Obamacare Enrollment For Ex-Cons:  New legislation in Illinois would start inmates' Medicaid enrollment or re-enrollment 30 days before their release through the state's ObamaCare office.  Benjamin Yount of Fox News reports that automatic enrollment is in the state's "best interest."  A total of 30,083 inmates were released last year alone.

Rise in Prison Violence in NY:  New York State's prisons have seen a sharp rise in violence over the last five years, increasing roughly 50 percent since 2010.  Brian Mann of NCPR reports that the president of the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPB) believes that increased drug activity, a stronger gang presence, and more violent young offenders entering the system are the prominent factors causing the surge of unrest in prisons.  The NYSCOPB stresses a need for more correctional officers due to retirements and administrative struggles to hire replacements.

Life Without Parole Bill Sparks Debate:  A passionate debate has erupted over a new bill that would authorize judges to hand down decide life without parole sentences instead of juries.  The AP reports that supporters regard the measure as a way to "clean up" the 2013 repeal of Maryland's death penalty, while opponents believe that the such a law would face constitutional legal challenges while abandoning a "fundamental component of our justice system is that the jury is a fact-finding entity."  The debate on the bill is continuing today.

State Dept. To Use Tax Dollars To Import Immigrant Children:  A new program will fly immigrant children under the age of 21 from some Central American countries to the US to be reunited with their parents on the taxpayers' dime.  The program was created in response to the surge of Central American children who have been illegally crossing the border in droves since last summer.  Kellan Howell of the Washington Times reports that any individual, whether a parolee or an illegal alien, that is receiving a work permit under Obama's executive amnesty would be eligible to have their children imported.  If approved, the children would be given special refugee status and begin earning taxpayer benefits once they are flown to the US.  One Democrat strategist told reporters that the program would be good for taxpayers.