Research and data for criminal justice reform

Criminal Justice Research Library for May 15, 2020 Bringing you the latest in empirical research about mass incarceration

We've The Prison Policy Initiative has added 26 new reports to the Research Library [[link removed]]: Voting in Jails [[link removed]] by Sentencing Project, May, 2020

"In local jails the vast majority of persons are eligible to vote because they are not currently serving a sentence for a felony conviction." Categories: Felon Disenfranchisement [[link removed]] While jails drastically cut populations, state prisons have released almost no one [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, May, 2020

"Our analysis finds that jails are responding to the unprecedented public health crisis by rapidly dropping their populations. In contrast, state prisons have barely budged." Categories: Incarceration Rates Growth Causes [[link removed]] The Prison Industry: Mapping Private Sector Players [[link removed]] by Worth Rises, May, 2020

"This report exposes over 4,100 corporations that profit from the devastating mass incarceration of our nation's marginalized communities--disproportionately those of color and with low income." Categories: Privatization [[link removed]] States Must Do More to Protect Youth Behind Bars During COVID-19 Pandemic [[link removed]] by Youth First Initiative, May, 2020

"Overall, we found that few states reported any public information, data or actions to protect youth during the COVID-19 pandemic and only a handful of states publicly reported actions to adequately protect youth." Categories: Youth [[link removed]] Health impact [[link removed]] Helping People Transition From Incarceration to Society During a Pandemic [[link removed]] by Health in Justice Action Lab, Data for Progress, and the Justice Collaborative Institute, May, 2020

"66% of respondents, including 61% of those identifying as Republican, support a program that would help those reentering society obtain work, training and/ or education to ensure they are able to provide for themselves." Categories: Recidivism and Reentry [[link removed]] Health impact [[link removed]] People in Prison in 2019 [[link removed]] by Vera Institute of Justice, May, 2020

""Vera researchers collected data on the number of people who were incarcerated in state and federal prisons as of December 31, 2019...[and] updated data on people in prison at the end of the first quarter of 2020."" How to find and interpret crime data during the coronavirus pandemic: 5 tips [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, April, 2020

"We outline five things to keep in mind about crime data trends during the pandemic, including a few tips for where to look for information about your local area." Categories: Crime and Crime Rates [[link removed]] Flattening the Curve: Why Reducing Jail Populations Is Key to Beating COVID-19 [[link removed]] by ACLU, Washington State University, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Tennessee, April, 2020

"Models projecting total U.S. fatalities to be under 100,0001 may be underestimating deaths by almost another 100,000 if we continue to operate jails as usual." Categories: Health impact [[link removed]] Policing in a Time of Pandemic: Recommendations for Law Enforcement [[link removed]] by Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics and Georgetown Law Innovative Policing Program, April, 2020

"Traditional law enforcement practices such as stops, searches, and arrests currently create a substantial risk of infection for police, suspects and community members alike." Categories: Health impact [[link removed]] Police and Policing [[link removed]] Modeling COVID-19 and impacts on U.S. Immigration and Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities, 2020 [[link removed]] by Irvine et al., April, 2020

"Preventing the rapid spread necessitates intervention measures such as granting ICE detainees widespread release from an unsafe environment by returning them to the community." Categories: Health impact [[link removed]] Immigration [[link removed]] Hundreds are still jailed for technical parole violations in NYC, which means decarceration is happening far too slowly [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, April, 2020

"As of April 22nd, there were still 293 people held in NYC jails for technical parole violations:" Categories: Jails [[link removed]] Health impact [[link removed]] Probation and parole [[link removed]] Protecting Rural Jails from Coronavirus [[link removed]] by Data for Progress and The Justice Collaborative, April, 2020

"Our analysis shows that a significant percentage of people being held in jails--12% nationally and over a third in some states--are housed in counties without any ICU beds." Categories: Health impact [[link removed]] Jails [[link removed]] At Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Dramatic and Rapid Reductions in Youth Detention [[link removed]] by The Annie E. Casey Foundation, April, 2020

"A survey of juvenile justice agencies in 30 state finds that the number of young people in local secure detention centers fell by 24% in March 2020, a sign that the coronavirus pandemic is dramatically altering the juvenile justice system." Categories: Youth [[link removed]] Policy Reforms Can Strengthen Community Supervision: A framework to improve probation and parole [[link removed]] by The Pew Charitable Trusts, April, 2020

"This report details the challenges facing community supervision systems around the country and outlines specific policy changes that states can make to achieve improved outcomes." Categories: Probation and parole [[link removed]] Recommendations for Rapid Release and Reentry During the COVID-19 Pandemic [[link removed]] by NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management, April, 2020

"[The assumptions and recommendations in this report] provide guidance to agencies supporting rapid release from incarceration and community reentry in response to COVID-19." Categories: Health impact [[link removed]] Recidivism and Reentry [[link removed]] Since you asked: What data exists about Native American people in the criminal justice system? [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, April, 2020

"Problems with data collection - and an unfortunate tendency to group Native Americans together with other ethnic and racial groups in data publications - have made it hard to understand the effect of mass incarceration on Native people." Categories: Race and ethnicity [[link removed]] A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform [[link removed]] by ACLU, April, 2020

"On average, a Black person is 3.64 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person, even though Black and white people use marijuana at similar rates." Categories: Race and ethnicity [[link removed]] Drug Policy [[link removed]] Since you asked: Is social distancing possible behind bars? [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, April, 2020

"The short answer is no - social distancing is even harder behind bars than in nursing homes or on cruise ships." Categories: Health impact [[link removed]] Large scale releases and public safety [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, April, 2020

"Large-scale releases have been common throughout U.S. and international history for a variety of legal, political and health reasons." Categories: Recidivism and Reentry [[link removed]] Rikers 6-A Early Release Program: Results After One Month of Operations [[link removed]] by Center for Court Innovation, April, 2020

"After one month of operations, only 7 of the 312 released individuals--2.2 percent--have been re-arrested while in the program. Of these, 4 were for alleged misdemeanor offenses." Categories: Health impact [[link removed]] Recidivism and Reentry [[link removed]] Resentencing of Juvenile Lifers: The Philadelphia Experience [[link removed]] by Tarika Daftary-Kapur and Tina M. Zottoli, April, 2020

"269 lifers have been re-sentenced in Philadelphia and 174 have been released. Six (3.5%) have been re-arrested. Charges were dropped in four of the cases and two (1%) resulted in new convictions." Categories: Youth [[link removed]] How prepared are state prison systems for a viral pandemic? [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, April, 2020

"Most prisons are still aiming to keep the virus out of their facilities, rather than focusing on how to minimize the harm to incarcerated people, to their staff and to society as a whole" Categories: Health impact [[link removed]] Prisoners in 2018 [[link removed]] by Bureau of Justice Statistics, April, 2020

"At year-end 2018, an estimated 1,465,200 prisoners were under state or federal jurisdiction." Categories: Incarceration Rates Growth Causes [[link removed]] A Review of Recreation Requirements in U.S. Juvenile Justice Facilities [[link removed]]Paywall :( by Maria Leon, Corliss Outley, Miner Marchbanks, Brandy Kelly Pryor, August, 2019

"There is not a shared definition of recreation, only 70% of states have daily mandatory minimums requirements, only 44% of states require youth be given time outside, and only 56% of states include justifications for denying youth access to recreation." Categories: Youth [[link removed]] Prisons as Panacea or Pariah? The Countervailing Consequences of the Prison Boom on the Political Economy of Rural Towns [[link removed]] by John M. Eason, January, 2017

"Thus, neither entirely pariah nor panacea, the prison functions as a state-sponsored public works program for disadvantaged rural communities but also supports perverse economic incentives for prison proliferation." Categories: Economics of Incarceration [[link removed]] Community Impact [[link removed]] Reproductive Healthcare Experiences of Incarcerated Women: A Qualitative Study [[link removed]]Paywall :( by Sarah O'Connor and Rebecca Perkins, 2015

"Most women described fragmentation of care with inability to consistently access reproductive and prenatal healthcare services. Frequent transitions between institutions exacerbated problems with access." Categories: Women [[link removed]] Health impact [[link removed]] Please support our work [[link removed]]

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