21 reports on prison food, education, mental health, and more.

Criminal Justice Research Library for July 27, 2023 Bringing you the latest in empirical research about mass incarceration

We've The Prison Policy Initiative has added 21 new reports to the Research Library [[link removed]]: COVID-19 [[link removed]] Risk Averse and Disinclined: What COVID Prison Releases Demonstrate About the Ability of the United States To Reduce Mass Incarceration [[link removed]] by Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, April, 2023

"All people released to house arrest [in Kansas]--15 in a prison system of 10,000--had 5 months or less left on their sentence, indicating that the releases did not significantly reduce the prison population or address social-distancing concerns." Community Impact [[link removed]] Neighborhood Incarceration Rates and Adverse Birth Outcomes in New York City, 2010-2014 [[link removed]] by Louisa W. Holaday et al, March, 2023

"In all models, as neighborhood incarceration rate increased, there was an increased incidence rate ratio of preterm birth [and an increased IRR of low birth weight]." Conditions of Confinement [[link removed]] Calculating Torture [[link removed]] by Solitary Watch and Unlock the Box Campaign, May, 2023

"State and federal prisons and local and federal jails in the U.S. have reported on a given day locking a combined total of more than 122,000 people in solitary confinement for 22 or more hours." The State of Prison Food in New England: A Survey of Federal and State Policy [[link removed]] by Center for Agriculture and Food Systems at Vermont Law, April, 2023

"Cost reductions that result in nutritionally inadequate food may ultimately cost taxpayers more as healthcare in public prisons constitutes their largest expenditure--estimates suggest these costs amount to over $12 billion per year." Substantiated Incidents of Sexual Victimization Reported by Adult Correctional Authorities, 2016-2018 [[link removed]] by Bureau of Justice Statistics, January, 2023

"In 29% of abusive sexual contact incidents in adult correctional facilities, the victim was not offered or provided medical treatment." Special Report: Summer Heat in New Jersey Prisons [[link removed]] by New Jersey Office of the Corrections Ombudsperson, September, 2022

"The Ombuds office confirmed that ice was provided on hot days, however, some facilities provided ice free of charge several times per day while others required a minimal payment or provided ice only on a single shift each day." Education [[link removed]] Unlocking College: Strengthening Massachusetts' Commitment to College in Prison [[link removed]] by The Boston Foundation, October, 2022

"In Massachusetts, the average annual cost to incarcerate someone in a DOC facility is $92,000, significantly higher than a year of even the most expensive college program in the state." Felon Disenfranchisement [[link removed]] Increasing Public Safety by Restoring Voting Rights [[link removed]] by Sentencing Project, April, 2023

"Retaining one's voting rights regardless of involvement in the criminal legal system can be viewed as a public safety strategy." General [[link removed]] Correctional Populations in the United States, 2021 - Statistical Tables [[link removed]] by Bureau of Justice Statistics, February, 2023

"At yearend 2021, an estimated 5,444,900 persons were under the supervision of adult correctional systems in the United States, a decline of 1% (down 61,100 persons) from yearend 2020." Health impact [[link removed]] Estimated Use of Prescription Medications Among Individuals Incarcerated in Jails and State Prisons in the US [[link removed]] by Jill Curran et al, April, 2023

"The relative disparity between disease burden and pharmaceutical volume varied from 1.9-fold to 5.5-fold and was greatest for asthma and least for hepatitis." Mental Health [[link removed]] Mental health disparities in solitary confinement [[link removed]]Paywall :( by Jessica T. Simes, Bruce Western, and Angela Lee, July, 2022

"Disparities by mental health status result from the cumulative effects of prison misconduct charges and disciplinary hearings. We estimate that those with serious mental illness spend three times longer in solitary [than those without mental illness]." Poverty and wealth [[link removed]] Debt Sentence: How Fines and Fees Hurt Working Families [[link removed]] by Wilson Center for Science and Justice and the Fines and Fees Justice Center, May, 2023

"This is the first study to use a nationally representative sample in examining the personal impacts court-imposed debt has on people unable to immediately pay off their fines and fees." Pretrial Detention [[link removed]] New West Virginia Capias Law - Effective June 9, 2023 [[link removed]] by West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, May, 2023

"In March 2023, lawmakers passed legislation to address a growing reason why people are taken to West Virginia jails: capiases (also known as bench warrants). Senate Bill 633 provides a uniform standard for addressing capiases..." Does New York's Bail Reform Law Impact Recidivism? A Quasi-Experimental Test in New York City [[link removed]] by Data Collaborative for Justice at John Jay College, March, 2023

"The results indicate that bail reform's mandatory release provisions significantly reduced two-year re-arrest rates for any charge (44% vs. 50%) and for a felony (24% vs. 27%)." Probation and parole [[link removed]] Safe At Home: Improving Maryland's Parole Release Decision Making [[link removed]] by Justice Policy Institute, May, 2023

"In Maryland, [parole] grant rates decline sharply beginning at 40 years of age." Probation and Parole in the United States, 2021 [[link removed]] by Bureau of Justice Statistics, February, 2023

"From yearend 2011 to yearend 2021, the total adult community supervision population fell 22%, from 4,818,300 to 3,745,000. Most of this decrease was due to a decline of 25% (1 million) in the number of adults on probation." Race and ethnicity [[link removed]] Racial Injustice Report: Disparities in Philadelphia's Criminal Courts from 2015-2022 [[link removed]] by Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, June, 2023

"Black individuals account for 69% of police stops and 62% of individuals arrested; white people accounted for only 18% of police stops and 21% of arrests, despite the fact that Black and white people make up similar shares of the city's population." Trials [[link removed]] Federal Justice Statistics, 2021 [[link removed]] by Bureau of Justice Statistics, December, 2022

"U.S. attorneys declined to prosecute 22% of matters concluded in FY 2021. The cases most likely to be declined were property fraud (45%) and regulatory public order (44%) offenses." Women [[link removed]] From Victim to Victor: An Inquiry into Death by Incarceration, Gender, and Resistance in Pennsylvania [[link removed]] by Abolitionist Law Center, April, 2023

"One third of [survey respondents'] cases involved the death of a romantic partner, and in 85% of those cases, the participants had experienced partner abuse." Youth [[link removed]] Effective Alternatives to Youth Incarceration [[link removed]] by Sentencing Project, June, 2023

"Effective alternative-to-incarceration programs produce better public safety outcomes than incarceration, at far lower costs, and do far less damage to young people's futures." Justice for Emerging Adults after Jones: The Rapidly Developing Use of Neuroscience to Extend Eighth Amendment Miller Protections to Defendants Ages 18 and Older [[link removed]] by Francis X. Shen et al, June, 2022

"This Essay provides the first empirical analysis of how courts are receiving the argument to raise the age for constitutional protections and introduces a publicly accessible, searchable database containing 494 such cases." Please support our work [[link removed]]

Our work is made possible by private donations. Can you help us keep going? We can accept tax-deductible gifts online [[link removed]] or via paper checks sent to PO Box 127 Northampton MA 01061. Thank you!

Other news: Heat, floods, pests, disease, and death: What climate change means for people in prison [[link removed]]

Without consistent access to relief or safer environments, incarcerated people are punished with deadly heat, increased biological threats, and flimsy emergency protocols.

In this new briefing [[link removed]], we explain new epidemiological evidence confirming that heat and death are linked in prisons nationwide, and explain why the climate-change-induced plight of people in prisons deserves swift action.

More evidence that releasing people pretrial doesn't harm public safety [[link removed]]

One of the most common arguments from law enforcement and district attorneys against limiting or eliminating money bail is that it puts community safety at risk.

In this new briefing [[link removed]], we put that claim to the test by examining the results in 4 states and 9 cities and counties that implemented pretrial reforms.

The results are clear: releasing people pretrial doesn't harm public safety [[link removed]].

Breaking news from the inside: How prisons suppress prison journalism [[link removed]]

New York state recently announced — and quickly rescinded — new restrictions that would make journalism behind bars nearly impossible.

We wanted to know if other states have similar restrictions. In this recent briefing [[link removed]], we examined the data and found that most states enforce restrictions that make practicing journalism difficult and sometimes risky.

Please support our work [[link removed]]

Our work is made possible by private donations. Can you help us keep going? We can accept tax-deductible gifts online [[link removed]] or via paper checks sent to PO Box 127 Northampton MA 01061. Thank you!

Our other newsletters General Prison Policy Initiative newsletter ( archives [[link removed]]) Ending prison gerrymandering ( archives [[link removed]])

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