Research about elections & mass incarceration, and 21 new reports in our research library.

Criminal Justice Research Library for October 23, 2024 Bringing you the latest in empirical research about mass incarceration

A new addition to our research library newsletter

Friends,

For more than two decades, we’ve sent this newsletter with periodic updates about some of the most important and impactful research about the harms of mass incarceration.

Starting today, we’re trying something new. We’ll continue to provide a rundown of the reports we’ve added to our Research Library [[link removed]], organized by topic. Now, though, our researchers will also curate some of the most timely, interesting, and topical reports and resources — from Prison Policy Initiative and other organizations — that we think you should know about.

With Election Day less than two weeks away, we’re starting with research that looks at the intersection of elections and mass incarceration:

While presidential campaigns get most of the attention, many down-ballot races can have an even bigger impact on prisons, jails, policing, and more. That’s why we put together this guide to how 19 offices you may be asked to vote [[link removed]] on can help end mass incarceration in America. It helps you understand how even offices that seem far removed from the criminal legal system can make a big impact. Similarly, you should also check out this really helpful guide [[link removed]] from our friends at Bolts [[link removed]] that highlights some of the key races on the ballot this November. The Sentencing Project recently released its biannual report on felony disenfranchisement [[link removed]], which shows that 4 million people with felony convictions will be disenfranchised in the 2024 election. Our 2020 report with the Rainbow Push Coalition, Eligible But Excluded [[link removed]], explains how most of the more than half a million people in jail on any given day are eligible to vote in elections but face a series of obstacles that make it nearly impossible. If you’re interested in learning more about jail voting, check out this 2022 briefing [[link removed]]about polling locations in local jails. Donald Trump is the first person with a felony conviction to ever have a shot at the presidency. However, in this briefing from earlier this year [[link removed]], we examined some of the other jobs that he — and millions of other people with felony convictions — are prohibited from holding due to misguided state laws.

We hope these resources are helpful as we head towards Election Day!

- Peter Wagner, Executive Director

P.S.

We’d love to hear what you think of this addition to the newsletter. If you have thoughts that you’d like to share, just press reply and send them to us. We look forward to hearing from you.

We've The Prison Policy Initiative has added 21 new reports to the Research Library [[link removed]]: Community Impact [[link removed]] Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance Exposure Risks in US Carceral Facilities, 2022 [[link removed]] by Lindsay Poirier, Derrick Salvatore, Phil Brown, et al, May, 2024

"5% of US carceral facilities have at least 1 known source of PFAS contamination... also 47% have at least 1 presumptive source [of PFAS exposure]. A minimum of 990,000 people are incarcerated in these facilities, including at least 12,800 juveniles." Locked into Emissions: How Mass Incarceration Contributes to Climate Change [[link removed]] by Julius A. McGee & Patrick T. Greiner, November, 2020

"We find that increases in incarceration within states are associated with increases in industrial emissions, and that increases in incarceration lead to a more tightly coupled association between gross domestic product per capita & industrial emissions." Economics of Incarceration [[link removed]] Prison disciplinary fines only further impoverish incarcerated people and families [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, February, 2024

"In 16 prison systems, we found policies referencing fines and/or fees related to confirmed disciplinary violations (where someone is found guilty or pleads guilty)." Health impact [[link removed]] Disparities in Medication Use for Criminal Justice System-Referred Opioid Use Disorder Treatment [[link removed]] by J. Travis Donahoe, Julie M. Donohue, & Brendan K. Saloner, September, 2024

"49% of individuals referred to opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment by noncriminal justice sources received MOUD. A total of 34% of individuals referred to treatment by criminal justice sources received the same treatment." Prescription Patterns in Jails Before and Since the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multisite Serial Cross-Sectional Investigation [[link removed]] by Amber H. Simpler, William Jett, Abdullah Ahsan, & Yash Arun Patade, August, 2024

"[From 2019-2023], the number of prescriptions in jails for various drug classes [grew], particularly central nervous system agents (13.5% to 17.7%)...The increase in prescriptions points toward a growing demand for managing pain, psychiatric conditions..." Health, Access to Care, and Financial Barriers to Care Among People Incarcerated in US Prisons [[link removed]]Paywall :( by Emily Lupton Lupez, Steffie Woolhandler, David U. Himmelstein, et al, August, 2024

"Of pregnant people [in state prison] with a co-pay greater than 1 week's [prison] wage, 12% had no obstetrical examination and 62% had no pregnancy education [after admission to prison]." Peer Education as a Tool to Improve Health Knowledge for People Who Are Incarcerated: A Secondary Analysis of Data From the Indiana Peer Education Program ECHO [[link removed]] by Andrea D. Janota, Patrick F. Hibbard, Meghan E. Meadows, et al, August, 2024

"Training individuals who are [in prison in Indiana] as peer educators on relevant public health topics increases health knowledge and behavior intentions and likely results in improvements in personal and public health outcomes." End-of-Life Care Planning: Perspectives of Returning Citizens [[link removed]]Paywall :( by Erin Kitt-Lewis & Susan J. Loeb, April, 2024

"Most of the participating returning citizens [in the qualitative study] did not have even a basic understanding of advanced directives/care planning." The aging prison population: Causes, costs, and consequences [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, August, 2023

"According to the most recent data on local jails in the U.S., from 2020-2021 ...the segment of the jail population aged 55+ grew by a greater proportion than any other age group, 24% compared to an average increase of 15% across all other ages." Jails [[link removed]] The Perils of Late-Night Releases [[link removed]] by Sandra Susan Smith, June, 2024

"Within 185 of the 200 most populated cities in the United States, there are 141 jails. Of the 141 jails, 131 release during the late night and only 10 do not." Police and Policing [[link removed]] Racial/ethnic disparities in police recovery of stolen property: A previously unexplored facet of police/victim interaction [[link removed]]Paywall :( by Alexander J. Vanhee, October, 2024

"Analyses of victim race suggested that Black, Asian, and Native American victims were all less likely to have their property recovered than white ones." National Burden of Injury and Deaths From Shootings by Police in the United States, 2015-2020 [[link removed]] by Julie A. Ward, Javier Cepeda, Dylan B. Jackson, et al, March, 2024

"A total of 1769 people were injured annually (2015-2020) in shootings by police, 55% fatally. When a shooting injury occurred, odds of fatality were 46% higher following dispatched responses than police-initiated responses." Pretrial Detention [[link removed]] Does pretrial detention influence time until re-involvement with the criminal legal system? [[link removed]] by Ian A. Silver, Jason Walker, Matthew DeMichele, et al, September, 2024

"Spending 2-3 days, 3-7 days, & >7 days in pretrial detention was associated with an increased probability of a new criminal arrest & new violent criminal arrest earlier...compared to spending 0-1 day in pretrial detention." Not an alternative: The myths, harms, and expansion of pretrial electronic monitoring [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, October, 2023

"Jail populations in many jurisdictions have remained essentially the same or have even increased while [electronic monitoring] usage has skyrocketed, significantly increasing the total number of people under surveillance." Probation and parole [[link removed]] Two years after the end of Roe v. Wade, most women on probation & parole have to ask permission to travel for abortion care [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, June, 2024

"In all, 41 states have some kind of abortion ban in place, whether "total bans" or bans based on gestational duration. In every one of these states, standard conditions of probation and/or parole require permission to travel out of state or county." Association between willingness to use an overdose prevention center and probation or parole status among people who use drugs in Rhode Island [[link removed]] by Michael Tan, Carolyn Park, Jacqueline Goldman, et al, February, 2024

"Most participants (71%) reported willingness to use an overdose prevention center (OPC), and... willingness to use an OPC did not vary by probation/parole status." No Release: Parole grant rates have plummeted in most states since the pandemic started [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, October, 2023

"In the 29 states for which we collected 2022 parole approval data, only 8 had grant rates above 50% - Connecticut, Idaho, Massachusetts, Nevada, North Dakota, Utah, Vermont, and Wyoming." Do Parole Technical Violators Pose a Safety Threat? An Analysis of Prison Misconduct [[link removed]]Paywall :( by Erin A. Orrick & Robert G. Morris, November, 2019

"Based on the official disciplinary records from male inmates readmitted to prison for technical violations and new offenses, technical violators were found to be significantly less likely to engage in any form of prison misconduct." Race and ethnicity [[link removed]] Mortality Disparities Among Arrestees by Race, Sentencing Disposition, and Place [[link removed]] by George Zuo, Beau Kilmer, & Nancy Nicosia, July, 2024

"In terms of racial disparities, all-cause mortality risk was 2.37 (95% CI, 1.95-2.88) times higher for American Indian/Alaska Native than White arrestees in the arrest-only disposition." Bias, Distrust, and Trauma Racial Disparities in Boston Residents' Experiences with Law Enforcement and Related Outcomes [[link removed]] by Sandra Susan Smith, May, 2024

"With few exceptions, Black Bostonians experience disparate treatment by law enforcement within categories of gender, age, educational attainment, neighborhood of residence, and income status." Recidivism and Reentry [[link removed]] "Expected to happen": perspectives on post-release overdose from recently incarcerated people with opioid use disorder [[link removed]] by Pryce S. Michener, Elyse Bianchet, Shannon Fox, et al, July, 2024

"This study provides novel insights into the perceptions of post-release overdose risk from people with OUD who have experienced incarceration in Massachusetts jails and received MOUD while incarcerated."

Visit our full Research Library [[link removed]] to find over 4,000 additional reports, sorted by category.

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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: One Size Fits None: How ‘standard conditions’ of probation set people up to fail [[link removed]]

In this new report [[link removed]], we shine a light on the burdensome rules that govern the lives of nearly 3 million people on probation and that doom many of them to inevitable further punishments.

Highlights from a bustling year at Prison Policy Initiative [[link removed]]

Last week, we released our new annual report for 2023-2024 [[link removed]]. In it, we detail some of our most important work and biggest victories.

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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