Research and data for criminal justice reform

Criminal Justice Research Library for December 7, 2020 Bringing you the latest in empirical research about mass incarceration

We've The Prison Policy Initiative has added 24 new reports to the Research Library [[link removed]]: COVID and Corrections: A Profile of COVID Deaths in Custody in Texas [[link removed]] by COVID, Corrections, and Oversight Project, November, 2020

"In one prison, the Duncan Unit, almost 6% of the incarcerated population has died." Categories: Health impact [[link removed]] Conditions of Confinement [[link removed]] 2020 State Ratings Report: Human Rights Protections for Children in the U.S. Justice System [[link removed]] by Human Rights for Kids, November, 2020

"Our findings reveal that the overwhelming majority of the nation - 42 states - have made minimal to no efforts to create a legal framework to protect the human rights of children in the justice system." Categories: Youth [[link removed]] How Governors Can Use Categorical Clemency as a Corrective Tool [[link removed]] by Urban Institute, November, 2020

"Though many clemency deliberations are independent case-by-case assessments, in some cases, governors can also extend clemency eligibility categorically to groups of people in prison to mitigate structural issues or accomplish larger reform goals." Categories: General [[link removed]] The Case Against Pretrial Risk Assessment Instruments [[link removed]] by Pretrial Justice Institute, November, 2020

"RAIs simply add a veneer of scientific objectivity and mathematical precision to what are really very weak guesses about the future, based on information gathered from within a structurally racist and unequal system of law, policy and practice." Categories: Pretrial Detention [[link removed]] Spend Your Values, Cut Your Losses 2021 Divestment Portfolio: Smart and Safe Justice System Solutions That Put Communities First [[link removed]] by Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, November, 2020

"Texas spends the most in the nation on prisons and jails; over the past three decades, it has grown 5x faster than the state's rate of spending on elementary and secondary education." Categories: Economics of Incarceration [[link removed]] Behavioral Health Crisis Alternatives: Shifting from Police to Community Responses [[link removed]] by Vera Institute of Justice, November, 2020

"Communities must pursue new approaches that minimize trauma and distress, promote dignity and autonomy, and reduce repeat encounters with police for people who experience behavioral health crises." Categories: Mental Health [[link removed]] Police and Policing [[link removed]] Releasing people pretrial doesn't harm public safety [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, November, 2020

"No matter the type of pretrial reform, the results were the same: Releasing people pretrial did not negatively impact public safety." Categories: Pretrial Detention [[link removed]] Since you asked: What role does drug enforcement play in the rising incarceration of women? [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, November, 2020

"Over the past 35 years, total arrests have risen 25% for women, while decreasing 33% for men. The increase among women is largely driven by drugs." Categories: Drug Policy [[link removed]] Women [[link removed]] Dollars and Sense in Cook County: Examining the Impact of General Order 18.8A on Felony Bond Court Decisions, Pretrial Release, and Crime [[link removed]] by Safety and Justice Challenge, November, 2020

"GO18.8A also had no impact on new criminal activity or new violent criminal activity of those defendants released." Categories: Crime and Crime Rates [[link removed]] Pretrial Detention [[link removed]] Naming and Shaming: Violations of the Human Rights of Transgender Persons with Felonies in Texas [[link removed]] by Human Rights Clinic, Austin Community Law Center, and Trans Pride Initiative, November, 2020

"By contributing to and facilitating an environment where the human rights of transgender persons are repeatedly and callously disregarded, Texas violates international treaties and the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States." Categories: LGBT [[link removed]] Conditions of Confinement [[link removed]] Civic Responses to Police Violence [[link removed]] by Desmond Ang and Jonathan Tebes, October, 2020

"We find that exposure to police violence leads to significant increases in registrations and votes. These effects are driven entirely by Blacks and Hispanics and are largest for killings of unarmed individuals." Categories: Police and Policing [[link removed]] Race and ethnicity [[link removed]] Misunderstood and Mistreated: How Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Experience the Texas Criminal Legal System [[link removed]] by Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, October, 2020

"Approximately 14,700 people with I/DDs are currently incarcerated in Texas." Categories: Health impact [[link removed]] Understanding Health Reform As Justice Reform: Medicaid, Care Coordination, and Community Supervision [[link removed]] by Square One Project, October, 2020

"Health system reform built upon the foundation of Medicaid programs can provide many of the health and social supports needed to help people with health problems successfully return and remain in their communities." Categories: Health impact [[link removed]] Evidence Shows That Most Immigrants Appear for Immigration Court Hearings [[link removed]] by Vera Institute of Justice, October, 2020

"Data from Vera's programs and other studies shows that most immigrants released from custody continue to appear in court when represented by counsel." Categories: Immigration [[link removed]] The Community Responder Model: How Cities Can Send the Right Responder to Every 911 Call [[link removed]] by Center for American Progress, October, 2020

"Estimates for the share of calls that could be handled by [community responders] range from a low of 21 percent of calls in Detroit to a high of 38 percent in Seattle and Portland." Categories: Police and Policing [[link removed]] Mental Health [[link removed]] Wealth and Retirement: Pondering the Fate of Formerly Incarcerated Men During the Golden Years [[link removed]]Paywall :( by Ngina Chiteji, October, 2020

"We find that formerly incarcerated men have little wealth accumulated by their late 40s and 50s, that they have limited access to on-the-job pensions, and that some may not even be able to rely on Social Security when they are old." Categories: Poverty and wealth [[link removed]] MA DOC Expenditures and Staffing Levels for Fiscal Year 2020 [[link removed]] by Lifers' Group Inc., October, 2020

"The DOC spent nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars in Fiscal 2020, a 6% increase or nearly $40 million over Fiscal 2019." Categories: Economics of Incarceration [[link removed]] New BJS data reveals a jail-building boom in Indian country [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, October, 2020

"The share of people held pretrial in Indian country jails increased by 20 percentage points (an 80% increase) from 1999 to 2018, and the average length of stay in Indian country jails has doubled since 2002." Categories: Pretrial Detention [[link removed]] Incarceration Rates Growth Causes [[link removed]] Race and ethnicity [[link removed]] New BJS data: Prison incarceration rates inch down, but racial equity and real decarceration still decades away [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, October, 2020

"At the current pace of decarceration, it will be 2088 when state prison populations return to pre-mass incarceration levels." Categories: Incarceration Rates Growth Causes [[link removed]] Race and ethnicity [[link removed]] Punishing status and the punishment status quo: Solitary confinement in U.S. Immigration prisons, 2013-2017 [[link removed]] by Konrad Franco, Caitlin Patler, and Keramet Reiter, October, 2020

"Solitary confinement cases involving immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean are vastly overrepresented in comparison to the share of these groups in the overall detained population." Categories: Conditions of Confinement [[link removed]] Immigration [[link removed]] Race and ethnicity [[link removed]] Time-In-Cell 2019: A Snapshot of Restrictive Housing Based on a Nationwide Survey of U.S. Prison Systems [[link removed]] by The Arthur Liman Public Interest Program at Yale Law School and the Association of State Correctional Administrators, September, 2020

"As of the summer of 2019, an estimated 55,000 to 62,500 prisoners in the United States were held in isolation for an average of 22 hours a day for 15 days." Categories: Conditions of Confinement [[link removed]] New York's Ferguson Problem: How the state's racist fee system punishes poverty, lacks transparency, and is overdue for reform [[link removed]] by No Price on Justice, September, 2020

"A national study found that 34 New York localities are about as reliant, if not more reliant, on fines and fees revenue as Ferguson was during the period investigated." Categories: Poverty and wealth [[link removed]] Economics of Incarceration [[link removed]] Reducing Racial Disparities in Crime Victimization [[link removed]] by Anna Harvey and Taylor Mattia, July, 2020

"We find that successful litigation over racially discriminatory practices substantially reduced both absolute and relative Black crime victimization, without increasing white victimization." Categories: Race and ethnicity [[link removed]] Police and Policing [[link removed]] Hepatitis C Litigation: Healing Inmates as a Public Health Strategy [[link removed]] by Robert Katz, April, 2020

"When an inmate HCV lawsuit brings about the universal treatment of infected inmates, it simultaneously vindicates the inmates' Eighth Amendment rights and maximally advances the public health goal of eradicating HCV. I" Categories: Health impact [[link removed]] Please support our work [[link removed]]

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