23 new reports on civil commitment, food in prisons, public defense, and more.

Criminal Justice Research Library for January 3, 2024 Bringing you the latest in empirical research about mass incarceration

We've The Prison Policy Initiative has added 23 new reports to the Research Library [[link removed]]: Conditions of Confinement [[link removed]] "We're Hungry in Here": D.C. Department of Corrections Food Survey Results [[link removed]] by dcgreens, December, 2023

"Six in ten residents responded that they "rarely" or "never" eat breakfast, seven in ten "rarely" or "never" eat lunch (most commonly bologna sandwiches) and six in ten respondents reported "rarely" or "never" eating dinner." The High Costs of Cheap Food: Eating in West Virginia Prisons [[link removed]] by West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, September, 2023

"According to the Department of Agriculture, as of August 9, 2023, the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) has failed to submit any documentation required by the Fresh Food Act since 2019." No Justice, No Resilience: Prison Abolition As Disaster Mitigation in an Era of Climate Change [[link removed]]Paywall :( by Carlee Purdum et al, December, 2021

"Incarceration undermines individual and collective resilience needed to recover from disasters, whereas carceral infrastructure facilitates disaster harm to incarcerated persons and their communities." Economics of Incarceration [[link removed]] Understanding the Landscape of Fines, Restitution, and Fees for Criminal Convictions in Minnesota [[link removed]] by Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, August, 2023

"In 2023, the [Minnesota] DOC reported that of 10,413 correctional fees imposed, it waived 338, for a waiver rate of 3.8%. However, of these, nearly 40% were waived due to the death of the person upon which the fees were originally imposed." Health impact [[link removed]] Decision-Making for Hospitalized Incarcerated Patients Lacking Decisional Capacity [[link removed]]Paywall :( by Sarah Batbold et al, December, 2023

"Clinicians will encounter incarcerated patients in both hospital and clinic settings and should receive education on how to support ethically and legally sound decision-making practices for this medically vulnerable population." History of incarceration and age-related neurodegeneration: Testing models of genetic and environmental risks in a longitudinal panel study of older adults [[link removed]] by Peter Tanksley, Matthew W. Logan, and J.C. Barnes, December, 2023

"These findings support the interpretation that APOE-e4 genotype and Lifetime incarceration operate as independent risk factors for cognitive impairment in later adulthood...together, [however, they may] inflict a multiplicative increase in risk." Mental Health [[link removed]] Involuntary Civil Commitment as Mass Incarceration [[link removed]] by Tristan Campbell, September, 2023

"Despite civil commitment often mirroring--and sometimes substituting for--incarceration, there is almost no data in comparison." Poverty and wealth [[link removed]] Forgotten but not gone: A multi-state analysis of modern-day debt imprisonment [[link removed]] by Johann D. Gaebler et al, September, 2023

"Between 2005 and 2018, around 38,000 residents of Texas and around 8,000 residents of Wisconsin were jailed each year for failure to pay (FTP), with the median individual spending one day in jail in both Texas and Wisconsin." Pretrial Detention [[link removed]] "You Send Yourselves to Jail": Coercive Diversion in the Allegheny County Mental Health Court [[link removed]] by Abolitionist Law Center, December, 2023

"As a plea-dependent court, [the mental health court] subjects people to most traditional carceral processes and leaves them with a permanent record." Examining the System-Wide Effect of Eliminating Bail in New York City: A Controlled-Interrupted Time Series Study [[link removed]] by Data Collaborative for Justice, October, 2023

"We found that eliminating discretion to set bail for select charges, mostly misdemeanors and non-violent felonies, was not associated with a system-wide change in either two-year or pretrial recidivism in either direction." Report and Recommendations Concerning Access to Counsel at the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Pretrial Facilities [[link removed]] by Advisory Group of Dept. of Justice Components, July, 2023

"Unpredictability and delays in visits can complicate the attorney-client relationship and discourage individuals detained pretrial from seeking in-person visits with their counsel." One Size Doesn't Fit All: A Review of Post-Plea Problem-Solving Courts in Cook County [[link removed]] by Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts & Chicago Council of Lawyers, March, 2023

"Court personnel reported many success stories in their courts...[but] several of these programs are unlikely to meet all of Public Act 102-1041's stated goals." Probation and parole [[link removed]] Parole Condition Setting in Iowa [[link removed]] by Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, July, 2023

"There is a perception...that there are very few standard conditions because they fall into just eight paragraphs. But when...parsed into individual conditions, there are thirty-five distinct requirements." Probation Condition Setting in Johnson County, Kansas [[link removed]] by Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, July, 2023

"The standard probation forms used in Johnson County, Kansas, do not mirror the requirements in statute, and people across the system have lost sight of which conditions are required by statute and which are not." Parole Rules in the United States: Conditions of Parole in Historical Perspective, 1956-2020 [[link removed]] by Benjamin Wiggins et al, June, 2021

"The increasing number of standard conditions for people on parole, especially economic sanctions, can overwhelm a person on parole's willingness and capacity to comply." Recidivism and Reentry [[link removed]] Still Not Free When They Come Home: How Wisconsin's Criminal Legal System Harms Democracy and the Black Community on Milwaukee's North Side [[link removed]] by Center for Popular Democracy and BLOC, October, 2023

"People released from prison did not know that their voting rights are restored after completing their sentences, received disinformation telling them they were ineligible to vote, or were too overwhelmed...to figure out voting right away." Sentencing Policy and Practices [[link removed]] The Forgotten Jurisprudence of Parole and State Constitutional Doctrines of Vagueness [[link removed]] by Kristen Bell, September, 2023

"This Article unearths historic state court decisions holding that sentences that end through the discretionary judgment of a parole board are "void for uncertainty."" Trials [[link removed]] Gideon at 60: A Snapshot of State Public Defense Systems and Paths to System Reform [[link removed]] by National Institute of Justice Office for Access to Justice, November, 2023

"Two-thirds of states (34) do not have full statewide oversight of public defense, meaning they do not set standards or monitor whether people receive counsel in all cases where they have a right to it." The Failure of Gideon and the Promise of Public Defense [[link removed]] by Center for Justice Innovation, November, 2023

"In essence, fast pleas, typically at the expense of what is best for [a flat-fee attorney's] client, act as the counter to offset low pay." Advancing the Use of Data in Prosecution: What We Measure Matters [[link removed]] by Fair and Just Prosecution, October, 2023

"Although a great deal of progress has been made to center data and research in public discourse, few jurisdictions have chosen to devote sufficient resources to cultivate robust data capacity in prosecutors' offices." Systemic Failure To Appear in Court [[link removed]] by Lindsay Graef, Sandra G. Mason, Aurelie Ouss, and Megan T. Stevenson, August, 2023

"Between 2010 and 2020, an essential witness or lawyer failed to appear for at least one hearing in 53% of all cases, compared to a 19% FTA rate for defendants [in Philadelphia, Pa.]." Understanding Court Absence and Reframing "Failure To Appear" in Lake County, IL [[link removed]] by Justice System Partners, May, 2023

"90% of individuals were not aware of either the Public Defender or Pretrial Services court reminder notification system. Of those who were not aware of this system, 90% said they would opt-in if offered again." Youth [[link removed]] Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Mental Healthcare in Youth With Incarcerated Parents [[link removed](23)00133-2/fulltext] by Jennie E. Ryan et al, March, 2023

"Black [and Latinx] youth with incarcerated parents were significantly less likely to report receiving mental health services than White [and non-Latinx] youth with incarcerated parents." 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: Why did prison and jail populations grow in 2022 — and what comes next? [[link removed]]

Recently published data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics show growing prison and jail populations.

In this recent briefing [[link removed]], we explain this growth has little to do with changes in crime. Instead, the trend reflects court systems’ slow return to “business as usual” and lawmakers’ resurrection of ineffective “tough on crime” strategies.

12 of our most important reports, briefings, and tools in 2023 [[link removed]]

2023 was a big year for the Prison Policy Initiative. We tackled probation and parole, racial disparities in incarceration, e-messaging in prisons, and much more.

Didn't catch everything we published? In this new blog post [[link removed]], we've curated some of our best and most important work in 2023.

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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