Research and data for criminal justice reform

Criminal Justice Research Library for March 15, 2021 Bringing you the latest in empirical research about mass incarceration

We've The Prison Policy Initiative has added 28 new reports to the Research Library [[link removed]]: What Jails Cost Statewide: Spending on Jails Across the Rural-Urban Spectrum [[link removed]] by Vera Institute of Justice, March, 2021

"Three out of five people incarcerated in local jails were in smaller cities and rural communities." Categories: Jails [[link removed]] Economics of Incarceration [[link removed]] Racial Disparities in Youth Incarceration Persist [[link removed]] by Sentencing Project, February, 2021

"In ten years, the United States has cut youth incarceration in half.1 While the reduction is impressive, youth involvement in the juvenile justice system continues to impact youth of color disproportionately." Categories: Youth [[link removed]] Race and ethnicity [[link removed]] How much have COVID-19 releases changed prison and jail populations? [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, February, 2021

"The good news is that jail and prison populations remain lower than they were before COVID-19, but it's not obvious just how much of that is attributable to additional releases." Categories: Health impact [[link removed]] International Incarceration Comparisons [[link removed]] Parole boards approved fewer releases in 2020 than in 2019, despite the raging pandemic [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, February, 2021

"In over half of the states we studied--Alabama, Iowa, Michigan, Montana, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina - between 2019 and 2020, there was either no change or a decrease in parole grant rates." Categories: Probation and parole [[link removed]] Health impact [[link removed]] Poverty and Mass Incarceration in New York: An Agenda for Change [[link removed]] by Brennan Center for Justice, February, 2021

"Roughly 337,000 New Yorkers have spent time in prison at some point in their lives. That burden has fallen disproportionately on people of color: three-quarters of the state's formerly imprisoned population is Black or Latino." Categories: Incarceration Rates Growth Causes [[link removed]] Race and ethnicity [[link removed]] Health Care Needs and Utilization Among New Yorkers With Criminal Justice System Involvement [[link removed]] by NYC Health, NYC Criminal Justice, and NYU Wagner, January, 2021

"Individuals who have had any jail contact have a higher burden of disease, including chronic illness, multi-morbidity, mental health and substance use disorders, and greater health care utilization." Categories: Health impact [[link removed]] Jails [[link removed]] Chasing Justice: Addressing Police Violence and Corruption in Maryland [[link removed]] by ACLU of Maryland, January, 2021

"91% of officers' use of force was targeted toward Black residents." Categories: Police and Policing [[link removed]] Race and ethnicity [[link removed]] Immigration and Crime: A Public Policy Red Herring [[link removed]] by CUNY Institute for State & Local Governance, January, 2021

"Despite fears that more immigration leads to higher rates of violent crime, one of the most consistent findings among research on this topic is that increases in immigration are associated with decreases--not increases--in violent offenses." Categories: Crime and Crime Rates [[link removed]] Immigration [[link removed]] Top Trends in State Criminal Justice Reform, 2020 [[link removed]] by Sentencing Project, January, 2021

"Incarcerated people are nearly 5X more likely to get COVID-19 compared to the general population. Yet only a handful of states took steps to decarcerate in 2020." Categories: Health impact [[link removed]] Incarceration Rates Growth Causes [[link removed]] Punishing Relations: How WA DOC's Collateral Damage and Hidden Costs Imprison Families [[link removed]] by Washington Corrections Watch, January, 2021

"The financial and emotional burdens of incarceration are primarily borne by female family members, most especially in communities of color." Categories: Economics of Incarceration [[link removed]] Families [[link removed]] Poverty and wealth [[link removed]] People in Jail and Prison in 2020 [[link removed]] by Vera Institute of Justice, January, 2021

"The number of people incarcerated in state and federal prisons and local jails in the United States dropped from around 2.1 million in 2019 to 1.8 million by mid-2020--a 14 percent decrease." Categories: Incarceration Rates Growth Causes [[link removed]] The Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder on Prison Adjustment and Recidivism Among Military Veterans: Evidence from Minnesota [[link removed]] by Matthew W. Logan, Susan McNeeley, and Mark Morgan, January, 2021

"Our results indicate that the effects of TBI, PTSD, and other indicators of criminogenic risk are relevant when examining the experiences of justice-involved military veterans--especially with respect to recidivism-based outcomes." Categories: Health impact [[link removed]] Health Departments Taking Action on Incarceration: A Framework for Advancing Health Instead of Punishment During COVID-19 [[link removed]] by Human Impact Partners, January, 2021

"We know that there is no way for anyone to be truly safe and healthy inside a jail, prison, or immigration detention center, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic." Categories: Health impact [[link removed]] Local Spending on Jails Tops $25 Billion in Latest Nationwide Data [[link removed]] by The Pew Charitable Trusts, January, 2021

"Jail and other local corrections costs had risen sixfold since 1977, with jail costs reaching $25 billion." Categories: Jails [[link removed]] The Demand Is Still #DefundPolice: Lessons from 2020 [[link removed]] by Interrupting Criminalization, January, 2021

Over the past six months, organizers secured divestment of over $840 million dollars from police departments, investments of at least $160 million dollars in communities, and increased transparency and community control over budgets in many areas. Categories: Police and Policing [[link removed]] The Pandemic Behind Bars: COVID-19, Vaccination, and the People in Colorado's Prisons and Jails [[link removed]] by Colorado Health Institute, January, 2021

"Outbreaks at prisons, jails, and other correctional and detention facilities account for 1 in every 24 cases of COVID-19 in Colorado since the start of the pandemic, and 15 of the 20 largest outbreaks in the state have occurred in prisons and jails." Categories: Health impact [[link removed]] Reining in Solitary Confinement in Texas: Recent Progress and Next Steps [[link removed]] by Texas Public Policy Foundation, January, 2021

"As of 2019, some 25.5% of those in solitary confinement in Texas have been there for 6 years or more, compared to the 5.7% average across the 33 surveyed states." Categories: Conditions of Confinement [[link removed]] The Reintegration Agenda During Pandemic: Criminal Record Reforms in 2020 [[link removed]] by Collateral Consequences Resource Center, January, 2021

"In 2020, 32 states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government enacted 106 legislative bills, approved 5 ballot initiatives, and issued 4 executive orders to restore rights and opportunities to people with a criminal record." Categories: Community Impact [[link removed]] Felon Disenfranchisement [[link removed]] Do District Attorneys Represent Their Voters? Evidence from California's Era of Criminal Justice Reform [[link removed]] by Michael W. Sances, January, 2021

"While voter preferences vary greatly across issues and geography, DA's almost always take the conservative position." Categories: Public Opinion [[link removed]] The Cost of Incarceration in New York State: How Counties Outside New York City Can Reduce Jail Spending and Invest in Communities [[link removed]] by Vera Institute of Justice, January, 2021

"In 2019, the 57 counties outside New York City -- which are responsible for funding their own jails -- collectively spent more $1.3 billion to staff and run their jails." Categories: Jails [[link removed]] Economics of Incarceration [[link removed]] Raising Arizona's Commitment to Health and Safety: The Need for Independent Oversight of Arizona's Prison System [[link removed]] by Michele Deitch, January, 2021

"Over the last decade or so, Arizona's prisons have become synonymous with mismanagement, lack of safety, unconstitutional health care, and abysmal conditions for people in custody." Categories: Conditions of Confinement [[link removed]] An Essay Concerning Pretrial Services [[link removed]] by Lehigh County Controller, January, 2021

"In 2019, there were a total of 5,230 cases that made their way through Lehigh County's criminal justice system...Of those cases, roughly 49% were unable to post bail." Categories: Pretrial Detention [[link removed]] People in jails are using more phone minutes during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite decreased jail populations [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2021

"Our study of 14 jails finds that there were 8% more overall minutes used during the pandemic, despite the fact that nationwide jail populations have fallen about 15%." Categories: Privatization [[link removed]] Jails [[link removed]] More states need to use their "good time" systems to get people out of prison during COVID-19 [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, January, 2021

"The suspension of programs during the pandemic makes it impossible for people in prison to work toward earlier release." Categories: Conditions of Confinement [[link removed]] General [[link removed]] Prisons shouldn't be charging medical co-pays - especially during a pandemic [[link removed]] by Prison Policy Initiative, December, 2020

"Most states are still charging medical co-pays in prisons despite the ongoing pandemic." Categories: Health impact [[link removed]] Poverty and wealth [[link removed]] Unmasked: Impacts of Pandemic Policing [[link removed]] by COVID19 Policing Project, October, 2020

"Black people specifically were 4.5 times more likely to be policed and punished for violations of COVID-19 orders than white people." Categories: Health impact [[link removed]] Police and Policing [[link removed]] Race and ethnicity [[link removed]] Mass Extraction: The Widespread Power of U.S. Law Enforcement to Search Mobile Phones [[link removed]] by Upturn Toward Justice in Technology, October, 2020

"We found that state and local law enforcement agencies have performed hundreds of thousands of cellphone extractions since 2015, often without a warrant." Categories: Police and Policing [[link removed]] Building Safe, Thriving Communities: Research-Based Strategies for Public Safety [[link removed]] by NYU Law School Center for Race, Inequality, and the Law and the Justice Collaborative Institute, October, 2020

"More and more, elected leaders and their constituents are recognizing that a path to safety and stability does not lie in a return to past, failed practices, but in an evidence-based, innovative reimagining of our law enforcement system." Categories: Police and Policing [[link removed]] Incarceration Rates Growth Causes [[link removed]] Please support our work [[link removed]]

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Other news: In case you missed it: Our newest numbers on prisons, jails and COVID-19 [[link removed]]

We recently published two short but vital reports about prison releases during COVID-19:

We showed that parole boards actually released fewer people [[link removed]] in 2020 than 2019, despite the raging pandemic. We also found that prisons have released fewer people in total during 2020 [[link removed]] than they did in 2019. Our other newsletters General Prison Policy Initiative newsletter ( archives [[link removed]]) Ending prison gerrymandering ( archives [[link removed]])

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