By  Leslie M. Barnard, Megan McCarthy, Christopher E. Knoepke, Sabrina Kaplan, James Engeln and Marian E. Betz,

Background: Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) are a relatively new type of law that is being considered or implemented in many states in the United States. Colorado’s law went into effect on January 1, 2020, after significant controversy and concern over the potential misuse of the law to confiscate weapons; many (n = 37 of 64) counties declared themselves “2nd Amendment (2A) sanctuaries” and said they would not enforce the law. Here, we reviewed the patterns of use of the law during its first year. Methods: We obtained all court records for ERPO petitions filed between January 1 and December 31, 2020. Data elements were abstracted by trained staff using a standardized guide. We calculated the proportion of petitions that were approved or denied/dismissed, identified cases of obvious misuse, and examined patterns by 2A county status. Finding and results: In 2020, 109 ERPO petitions were filed in Colorado; of these, 61 were granted for a temporary ERPO and 49 for a full (year-long) ERPO. Most petitions filed by law enforcement officers were granted (85%), compared to only 15% of petitions filed by family or household members. Of the 37 2A sanctuary counties, 24% had at least one petition filed, versus 48% of non-2A sanctuary counties. Across the 2A counties, there were 1.52 ERPOs filed per 100,000 population, compared to 2.05 ERPOs filed per 100,000 in non-2A counties. There were 4 cases of obvious law misuse; none of those petitions resulted in an ERPO or firearm confiscation. Conclusion: State-level studies suggest ERPOs may prevent firearm injuries. Robust implementation, however, is critical for maximal effect. Understanding ERPO experiences and challenges can inform policy creation and action in other states, including identifying how best to address concerns and facilitate evaluation.

Inj. Epidemiol. 2021 8(59)     

By The Bureau of Justice Assistance and Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a tightening labor market, heightened community frustration with the policing profession, and concerns about officer safety and well-being, law enforcement agencies across the country face a historic crisis in recruiting and retaining qualified candidates. SocAs agencies continue to seek innovative ways to attract qualified potential candidates and retain current staff, the crisis demands an immediate and effective response to ensure that law enforcement agencies can maintain staffing levels sufficient to support their communities’ public safety needs. Addressing these issues may necessitate the reexamination of agencies’ foundational organizational structure and processes to more clearly and easily meet the needs and expectations of both law enforcement and the community. In response to this situation and recognizing that the way law enforcement professionals are recruited and retained has a major impact on violent crime reduction, overall public safety, and community trust—Attorney General Merrick Garland identified law enforcement recruitment and retention as a U.S. Department of Justice priority and directed the Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) to hold a convening. On April 18, 2023, a group of more than 30 law enforcement and community leaders from across the country met in Washington, D.C., to discuss existing best practices and emerging and transformative solutions designed to address current staffing challenges. In addition to command staff and other law enforcement leaders from key stakeholder associations, other new vocal and innovative leaders were in attendance to assist in designing a national solution. As Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta noted in her opening remarks, the issues of recruitment and retention are among the most important faced by federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies across the nation, regardless of size or location. The agenda was driven by information obtained from the participants during brief interviews conducted before the event and designed to promote meaningful, actionable discussion. This publication represents the outcomes of the convening, focusing on both short-term strategies and long-term solutions identified by participants, who shared examples of streamlining and modernizing the hiring process, incorporating technology, updating requirements, and increasing accessibility; discussed marketing strategies designed to attract service-oriented candidates; examined existing and potentially new benefits and incentives, including a focus on employee wellness and mental well-being, to entice current employees to stay; and addressed the need for transparency and accountability throughout the hiring and employment process to promote public confidence. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution for the law enforcement recruitment and retention challenges, agencies are encouraged to consider adopting strategies contained herein as they pertain to their situations.                                                                                                                                                               

Washington DC:  Bureau of Justice Assistance and Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 2023. 60p.

By Matteo Tiratelli

This paper assembles the largest set of British survey questions about criminal justice to date (1,190 question-year pairs) and uses it to measure crime concern, punitiveness, support for the death penalty, and the prioritization of crime as a social issue from the 1960s to today. Results lend some support to existing narratives of public opinion, showing that concern and prioritization grew steadily through the 1970s before declining from the mid-2000s, and that support for the death penalty has been falling since at least the 1960s. But they contradict orthodox accounts of the 1980s as a period of rising punitiveness, showing instead that support for tougher policing and sentencing was highly volatile and subject to significant demographic variation until the late 1990s. I also show that crime concern is particularly responsive to the true rate of crime and propose a model for the interaction between these different strands of public opinion.  

The British Journal of Criminology, azae058, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azae058, Published: 13 August 2024

By Michael Johnson, Jr.

The use of criminal legal fines and fees to fill state and local budgetary gaps has deep roots in a history of anti-Black racism. That history is evident in Washington, DC where the regressive nature of these financial obligations and the high costs of incarceration criminalize, extract wealth, and create collateral consequences that disproportionately impact Black and low-income communities. This report details the harms of fines and fees in DC’s criminal legal system, particularly for those unable to pay, and the perverse incentives created by using fines and fees to fund core government services. The authors use interviews with four formerly incarcerated DC residents to highlight the need for systemic reforms and provide recommendations to mitigate these harms in DC.

Key Findings:

• In federal BOP facilities, people who do not make payments towards their fines lose privileges such as access to commissary spending, denial of higher pay opportunities for work assignments, and denial of drug treatment and community-based programs.

• D.C residents can be incarcerated for up to a year for unpaid court financial obligations.

• The DOC and BOP require anyone with outstanding financial obligations to pay their debt in full as a condition of release, and failure to do so can result in re-incarceration.

• Revenue from Mayor Bowser’s addition of 342 traffic cameras in 2023 is expected to double between fiscal years 2024 and 2025.

• Criminal fines range from $100 for minor offenses to $125,000 for offenses punishable by 30 years or more.

• Workers in local DOC facilities earn up to $.50 per hour; a 15-minute phone call is more than double the hourly earnings for someone incarcerated in local DOC facilities.

• DOC charges a 9 percent surcharge on all commissary goods — on average, generating over $2 million annually between 2018 and 2023. 

• The work release program in DC requires incarcerated workers to pay fees on their wages, effectively functioning as a 20 percent income tax.

Recommendations:

• Improve transparency by investing in data systems that can collect, coordinate, and report on criminal fines and fees.

• Eliminate incarceration and supervision-related fees.

• Provide economic support for those with criminal legal involvement and their families.

Washington, DC: The DC Fiscal Policy Institute, 2024. 33p.

By Wilmington City Council

Lower-income residents in Wilmington face financial hardship as the costs and fees from the city rise. In 2022, the Wilmington City Council created the Fines and Fees Task Force to review fees, fines, and administrative sanctions imposed by all departments and recommend reforms for fairness. The task force found that generating revenue from fees and fines is inefficient and that the city’s financial department expenses, which process tickets, have increased by nearly $7 million over the past 20 years. Additionally, water bill fees have risen significantly, with Wilmington residents covering costs for a neighboring county and the city increasingly using the Water/Sewer Fund to pay for general expenses. With 1 in 4 Wilmington households earning less than $25,000 annually, the city’s reliance on fines and fees disproportionately impacts those least able to pay. The task force recommends revising the city budget to better align revenue sources with the ability to pay.

Key Findings:

• Most cities, like Wilmington, generate less than 1 percent of their general revenue from fines; in 2022, Wilmington generated 4.4 percent.

• Wilmington’s revenue from fines and forfeitures rose from 2.8 percent in 2004 to 4.4 percent in 2022.

• From 2018 to 2022, Wilmington issued over 450,000 parking and red light tickets.

• From 2018 to 2022, Wilmington issued about $42 million in parking and red-light tickets; nearly 25 percent went uncollected, 50 percent was paid to Conduent for managing the red-light program, and 20 percent went to the parking division.

• Conduent receives a 30 percent commission on all revenue from booting.

• In 2022, the city’s Water/Sewer Fund spending on other departments increased by 43 percent, paying $7.5 million in city expenses. 

• Almost 30 percent of residential water/sewer customers are delinquent on their water bills.

Recommendations:

• Stop harmful collection practices such as ending the practice of towing and booting cars for delinquent payments and adding penalties to people who can’t pay because of limited income. 

• Revise vendor contracts to reduce harm and reduce costs.

• Adjust fees to cover only the costs of providing the service.

Wilmington DE: Wilmington City Council, 2024. 19p.

By  Aravind Boddupalli, Susan Nembhard, Michael Karpman, and Sarah Morriss

Fines and fees can impose heavy burdens on those who come into contact with the criminal legal system. Using nationally representative data from the Urban Institute’s 2023 Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey, we examined the prevalence of fines and fees among nonelderly adults’ households, including the types of violations resulting in fines and fees, the populations impacted, and the consequences of these costs. About one in six adults incurred fines and fees in 2023, largely from traffic or parking tickets. Court or incarceration-related fines and fees disproportionately affected people of color and those with low incomes. Compared with adults who only incurred costs from traffic or parking tickets, those with court or incarceration-related fines and fees faced higher amounts charged, greater financial strain to make payments, and a higher likelihood of adverse consequences for being unable to pay, such as driver’s license suspensions, additional fees, or time in jail. They also faced higher rates of food insecurity and other material hardships. Our findings contribute to the growing evidence base on the impacts of fines and fees on family well-being.\

Washington, DC: Tax Policy Center, 2024. 23p.

By Thomas Sloan, Molly Pickard, Johanna Lacoe, Mia Bird and Steven Raphael

Since March 2020, Los Angeles County has experienced several distinct shifts in bail policy, shaping how people experience the pretrial process and igniting a dialogue about bail reform, equity, and safety. During the COVID-19 pandemic, LA County implemented an emergency bail schedule for most misdemeanors and low-level felonies (sometimes referred to as “zero bail”). In July 2022, LA County returned to the normal bail schedule, where a person who is arrested could pay the amount specified by the bail schedule and immediately be released from custody before their first court date. In May 2023, a successful court challenge to bail practice caused the Los Angeles Police and Sheriff's Departments to return to the emergency bail schedule. This was followed shortly thereafter by the countywide implementation of a new, more permanent approach to pretrial release decisions — the Pre-Arraignment Release Protocols (PARPs) — in October 2023. Under the PARPs, no monetary bail is set for people arrested for certain lower-level offenses, and for some offenses judges are able to consider additional information when making a release decision, such as criminal history, previous failures to appear for court, and risk assessment recommendations.

KEY FINDINGS We leverage these three distinct policy shifts to estimate the short-run effects of bail policy changes on jail populations, crime reports, and arrests. We find:

• Removing the emergency bail schedule and reverting back to cash bail increased average daily jail populations with no short term effect on citywide crime. The retraction of the emergency bail schedule in July 2022 resulted in a statistically significant increase in the average daily jail population over the following two months, and no change in arrests or crime reports.

• Reinstating the emergency bail schedule did not change the average county daily jail population or total citywide crime in the following two months, but some property crimes increased. The resumption of the emergency bail schedule in May 2023 did not cause the average daily jail population to vary from its pre-period decline, but did cause a decline in pretrial jail population beyond the pre-period trend. At the same time, there was no statistically significant change in total crime reports or arrests, but reports of property crime increased relative to the pre-period trend.

• The PARPs decreased daily overall and pretrial county jail populations in the two months after implementation, with no effect on citywide crime. The daily pretrial jail population decreased by over 200 people (or three percent) on average relative to the pre-period trend following the implementation of the PARPs. Despite the decrease in people held in jail, there was no change in any measure of reported crime during the same period. Arrests for misdemeanor offenses declined, while overall arrest trends did not change. Despite concerns that these bail reforms would lead to increases in crime, we do not observe consistent changes in total crime in the City of Los Angeles for the two months following these bail policy shifts. In addition, a return to the standard bail schedule increased daily jail populations but did not reduce crime. Early evidence from the PARPs suggests that the approach can reduce jail populations while maintaining public safety, particularly during the pretrial period.

Los Angeles: California Policy Lab, Committee on Revision of the Penal Code 2024. 51p.

By Caldwell, Ryan Ashley

Fallgirls provides an analysis of the abuses that took place at Abu Ghraib in terms of social theory, gender, and power, based on first-hand participant observations of the courts-martial of Lynndie England and Sabrina Harman. This book examines the trials themselves, including interactions with soldiers and defense teams, documents pertaining to the courts-martial, US government reports, and photographs from Abu Ghraib, in order to challenge the view that the abuses were carried out at the hands of a few rogue soldiers. With a keen focus on gender and sexuality as prominent aspects of the abuses themselves, as well as the ways in which they were portrayed and tried, Fallgirls engages with modern feminist thought and contemporary social theory in order to analyze the manner in which the abuses were framed, whilst also exploring the various lived realities of Abu Ghraib by both prisoners and soldiers alike.

Burlington, VT: Ashgate,  2012. 

By Jonathan Gu

AIM To estimate the association between judge-alone trials and the probability of acquittal, trial length, and sentence severity. METHOD We compared 5,064 jury and 805 judge-alone criminal trials finalised in the NSW District Court and Supreme Court between January 2011 and December 2019, excluding cases where the defendant entered a guilty plea to their principal offence or had a special verdict of “not guilty by reason of mental illness” (under s. 25 of the Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act 1990 (NSW)). Entropy balancing was used to match judge-alone cases with jury cases on available covariates. We then estimated the association between trial type (judge-alone vs jury) and four criminal justice outcomes, adjusting for relevant observable factors. The analysis was repeated for two subsets of offences: violent offences and offences with a higher likelihood of having prejudicial elements or complex evidence (prejudicial and complex offences). We also interviewed 12 legal practitioners, including District and Supreme Court judges, prosecutors, and defence lawyers, to identify factors motivating judge-alone applications that may be correlated with the outcomes of interest. RESULTS We estimated that compared to jury trials, judge-alone trials are associated on average with a statistically significant nine percentage point increase in the probability of acquittal and a shorter prison sentence by 7.6 months. Within prejudicial and complex offences, we found that judge-alone trials were associated with a statistically significant decrease in average trial days. Judge-alone trials were also associated with a statistically significant decrease in prison sentence length for the violent offences subgroup. Interviewees suggested that increased use of written submissions may influence both shorter trial length in judgealone matters and reduced prison sentences (i.e., via discounts from efficiencies resulting from pre-trial cooperation or time saved by submitting tendered evidence). Interviewees stated that judge-alone applications in NSW are mostly made in cases with prejudicial elements (e.g., evidence that cannot be separated from prior proven offending) or complex evidence (e.g., cases with substantial scientific or financial evidence). CONCLUSION Judge-alone trials are associated with an increased probability of acquittal, shorter trials, and a shorter prison sentence. However, we cannot determine whether these differences are driven by confounding factors (such as strength of the prosecution’s case) and/or causal factors.

Sydney: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, 2024. 49p.

By Julie Marie Baldwin, John M. Eassey, and Erika J. Brooke

This paper reviews the distinct nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and examines the resultant court responses and recommendations disseminated by various entities that support courts. Specifically, we contextualize the current environment the present pandemic has created by considering how it compares to the most-recent previous pandemics. We then review guidelines disseminated to the courts and the modifications and innovations implemented by the courts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional challenges related to these recommendations and modifications are identified and discussed.

American Journal of Criminal Justice, 2020. 16p.

MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

STANLEY H. PALMER

PREFACE: This book seeks to right an imbalance and recognize a contribution. The imbalance is the result of two decades of scholarship on English popular protest; the contribution, that of Ireland to British police history. Thanks to pioneering work in the 1960s by Eric Hobsbawm, George Rudé, and Edward Palmer Thompson, work that has been ably continued by succeeding generations of graduate students, historians have made a quantum leap in our knowledge of the motivations and aims, composition and tactics, of crowds and protesters in Georgian and carly Victorian England. By contrast, we still know little about the other side of the confrontation, the forces of order. The result has been an emerging, indeed a growing imbalance in our knowledge about crowds and the authorities. ..”

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS. CAMBRIDGE NEW YORK NEW ROCHELLE MELBOURNE SYDNEY. 1988. 840p.

MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

By CHARLES A. RUUD and SERGEI A. STEPANOV

From Introduction: Fontanka 16 takes a fresh look at the feared Russian tsarist secret police, the Okhranka, during the period of the imperial regime leading up to the Revolution of r917. It is a fascinating account of the development of a secret police organization that was deeply rooted in tsarist Russia but provided a model for Soviet police organizations.

McGill-Queen's University Press Montreal &e Kingston • London • Ithaca. 1999. 409p.

By Joanna R. Lampe

Federal law generally prohibits the production, distribution, and possession of marijuana for both medical
and recreational purposes. In April 2024, news outlets reported that the Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA) planned to change the status of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) by moving
it from Schedule I to the less restrictive Schedule III. Such a move would relax some controls over
marijuana but would not immediately legalize medical or recreational use of marijuana under the CSA.
Notwithstanding the strict federal control of marijuana, in recent years, many states have repealed state
law criminal prohibitions on some marijuana-related activities, and medical and recreational cannabis
businesses now operate openly in some parts of the United States.
In response to the disparity between state and federal law, Congress has enacted appropriations legislation
prohibiting the Department of Justice (DOJ) from expending appropriated funds to prevent states from
implementing their own medical marijuana laws. Federal courts have interpreted the appropriations rider
to prohibit DOJ from bringing criminal drug prosecutions against certain persons and entities involved in
the state-legal medical marijuana industry, but they have differed as to the scope of conduct the rider
shields from prosecution.
This Legal Sidebar first outlines the legal status of marijuana under federal and state law. It then discusses
the medical marijuana appropriations rider and analyzes how federal courts have interpreted the
provision. The Sidebar closes with key considerations for Congress related to the appropriations rider and
the disparity between federal and state marijuana policy more generally.
Federal and State Marijuana Regulation
The plant Cannabis sativa L. and products derived from that plant have a number of uses and may be
subject to several overlapping legal regimes. In recent years, a significant divide has developed between
federal and state marijuana laws. On the federal side, the CSA imposes stringent regulations on the
cannabis plant and many of its derivatives. Activities involving controlled substances not authorized
under the CSA are federal crimes that may give rise to large fines and significant prison sentences.
Unless an exception applies, the CSA classifies cannabis and its derivatives as marijuana. Congress
classified marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance when it enacted the CSA, reflecting a legislative

Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2024. 5p.

By Megan Comfort, Jenn Rineer, Elizabeth Tibaduiza, and Monica Sheppard

The “pretrial process” refers to the events that happen between the time that one is suspected by law enforcement of violating the law and the time that charges are dismissed, the case is otherwise resolved, or the trial process begins. During the pretrial period, people are considered innocent under the law. The U.S. Supreme Court1 has stated, “In our society, liberty is the norm, and detention prior to trial or without trial is the carefully limited exception.” The only two constitutionally valid reasons for holding someone in jail during the pretrial period are (1) to prevent flight or (2) to prevent harm to people in the community. Judges make decisions every day about whether to detain or release people going through the pretrial process, as well as about what conditions of release may be needed to help people succeed. Pretrial release assessments are designed to inform their decisions. Unlike assessments that involve a clinician or other professional drawing on their subjective expertise to make a recommendation, actuarial pretrial release assessmentsa rely on mathematical processes. Using large data sets with information about people who previously went through the pretrial process, researchers identify factors related to appearing for court hearings and not being arrested again if released. The researchers then create a sequence of instructions for a computer to follow (called an algorithm) that uses these factors to calculate an estimated likelihood that a person will appear in court and remain arrest free while their case is being resolved. This calculation—referred to as a “score”—is provided to the judge as information to consider when making decisions about pretrial release. A person’s score is also often provided as information to other courtroom actors, such as prosecutors, defense attorneys, and pretrial services officers. When thinking about actuarial pretrial release assessments, it is important to understand the history of the criminal legal system in the United States, which is deeply rooted in the legacy of slavery. Read Race and the Criminal Justice System2 by the Equal Justice Initiative to learn more. No actuarial pretrial release assessment tool or instrument is considered standard. Numerous assessments have been developed, and they vary in terms of the factors and instructions entered in the algorithm. Some use factors that are available through criminal legal system records, such as whether someone has been arrested before or has previously missed a court date. Others include factors like whether someone has a job, is enrolled in a substance use treatment program, or has a place to live. This information is usually obtained by talking with the person who has been arrested. At the time of this writing, pretrial release assessments use algorithms that are created by humans as opposed to ones that are generated by machine learning or artificial intelligence (AI). It is possible that future assessments will rely on AI, which would raise a different set of issues to consider. The use of actuarial pretrial release assessments is growing across the United States. Often, they are an element of broader system change aimed at reducing or eliminating the use of cash bonds, which require people to post money to be released from jail. Judges may consider the actuarial pretrial release assessment score when deciding what conditions of release—for instance, electronic monitoring or mandatory check-ins with pretrial services—are appropriate for a person. In systems that retain money bond as a potential release condition, assessments are sometimes used to inform decisions about bond amounts, but the impact on release is lessened if people remain in jail because they cannot afford to pay their way out. Judges may also use the score as part of their decision about whether to keep someone in jail or release them while their case is pending

APPR Research Brief, April 2024. Research Triangle Park, NC: RTI International, 2024. 5p.

By Harry Annison, Kate Paradine

In this article we sketch a vision that might guide academic and third sector collaboration. We do so by drawing on a project that involved collaboration with a range of stakeholders, in order to stimulate ongoing discussion about how academics and the third sector might work together to seek positive change. Our findings show that there are keenly felt challenges, but also a sense of resilient optimism. A key finding among our stakeholders was a sense that there is an absence of an overarching shared vision, which was experienced by many of our respondents as consequential. Therefore, in the spirit of constructive provocation we set out such a vision, which was collaboratively developed with our respondents: opening a dialogue, rather than providing a conclusive position.

Howard Journal of Crime and Justice, May 2024 (early view)

By The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, Data Lab

The Conviction Integrity Unit (“CIU”) was established in 2018 by District Attorney Larry Krasner. The CIU’s predecessor, the Conviction Review Unit (“CRU”), which was established in 2014, had operated for a number of years with only a small staff and a narrow mandate. The CRU only reviewed claims of actual innocence, and rarely undertook investigations into whether new evidence existed that could prove those claims. Cases where the defendant had confessed were largely excluded from consideration, as if false confessions (which occur in a quarter of DNA exonerations nationally) were always reliable. Today, the CIU is an independent unit within the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, reporting directly to the District Attorney, and involved in one out of every ten homicide exonerations in the country. When District Attorney Krasner transformed the unit from the CRU to the CIU, he immediately tasked it with a broader mandate: not only to review past convictions for credible claims of actual innocence but also to review claims of wrongful conviction and secondarily to consider sentencing inequities. Early in his first term, District Attorney Krasner merged the CIU with the Office’s Special Investigations Unit (“SIU”). The two units share a common focus on investigating official misconduct, and their cases frequently overlap. However, as the CIU and SIU personnel have grown and expanded their caseloads, the units were separated in the summer of 2020 to better accommodate each unit’s mission

The CIU’s mission is to ensure that justice is served by prosecutors at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office and to remedy the Office’s wrongful convictions. Pennsylvania prosecutors have limited post-con viction discretion in general and they have no legal authority to set aside convictions in the interest of justice. Since CIU prosecutors cannot unilaterally dismiss an existing conviction or free anyone we believe to be wrongfully incarcerated, the CIU makes a recommendation to the court that the petitioner be granted a new trial whenever its independent investigation leads it to conclude that a conviction lacks integrity. If warranted, the CIU will move to withdraw the charges against the petitioner or reduce the charges so that an equitable sentence can be imposed. In cases that are ultimately withdrawn or dismissed, the CIU will investigate and prosecute the actual perpetrator where feasible. However, given the inherent difficulties involved in investigating decades-old crimes where the original investigation was either botched or inadequate, identifying the real perpetrator and bringing that person to justice may be impossible. To date, the Philadelphia Police Department has declined to re-open and re-investigate old cases following exonerations. For example, Walter Ogrod was exonerated of a 1988 murder in 2020. While investigating the case, the CIU identified two alternate suspects. As of almost a year after Ogrod’s exoneration, however, police had not even begun the process of re-opening the underlying murder case. Additionally, the CIU believes that conviction integrity is more than simply fixing past mistakes and exposing misconduct. It also requires policies and processes to prevent future injustices. With this aim, the CIU helps craft office-wide policies and trainings designed to reduce the number of future wrongful convictions.

This report encompasses exonerations, commutations, and sentencing adjustments from January 1, 2018 through June 15, 2021. This report includes data on cases submitted to the CIU, active investigations, cases declined or closed, and cases awaiting review that are accurate as of May 31, 2021. Experts who have opined on the issue of best practices for conviction integrity units agree that in order to increase public understanding of and trust in such units, offices should publish annual reports detailing the results of their conviction and case reviews and actions taken. This report is the first report issued by the CIU under District Attorney Krasner and is a first-term report, rather than an annual report. Although annual reports were contemplated, they were postponed as a result of multiple factors ,including lack of resources, internal technology deficits, case load, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, Data Lab. 2021. 47p.

By Sandra Susan Smith and Cierra Robson    

In the year following Humphrey, a judicial decision mandating that judges consider both defendants’ ability to pay cash bail and non-monetary release options, San Francisco Sheriff’s Office (SFSO) reported a 308% increase in the number of people court-ordered for pretrial electronic monitoring (EM) – from 178 to 725. Although proponents of pretrial EM have described it as an effective alternative to pretrial incarceration – one that ensures public safety and court appearances – critics contend that it is simply an alternative form of incarceration, with many of jail’s attendant harms. With this debate in mind, we explore people’s recent experiences on pretrial EM in San Francisco – the extent and nature of difficulties program participants face while attempting to meet program obligations, the extent to which and how these difficulties put them at risk for noncompliance, and how threats of noncompliance interact with other major issues that system-involved people face to affect program outcomes. Through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a convenience sample of 66 people court ordered to participate in pretrial EM between 2018 and 2020, we find that prior struggles, especially with housing insecurity and co-occurring disorders, made it much more difficult to meet program obligations, amplifying risks of noncompliance. Further, conditions of pretrial EM release also created hardships for many, making it even more difficult to find safe, affordable, and stable housing; to protect health and well-being; to secure employment and keep jobs; and to maintain physical, emotional, and psychological connections to loved ones. Indeed, pretrial EM often placed program participants in the untenable position of constantly having to choose between two or more equally awful options, such as program compliance or maintaining employment. These findings have major implications for debates about pretrial EM’s net-widening effects but also the inherent stickiness of the criminal legal system.

Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Kennedy School. 2022, 53pg

By Jue Jiang

This research provides a rare yet much-needed gender perspective on authoritarian legality in China, drawing upon sentencing and punishment for the crime of rape. First, several controversial cases – cases extensively discussed in the media or online – are reviewed to identify the attributes that triggered the controversy. Four categories of cases were selected, based on four sexual relationships embodying various power dynamics between the offender and the victim: public official and citizen/sex worker; husband and wife; adult and child; caregiver and dependent. A search was then made for “like cases” using these attributes as keywords in the China Judgments Online database. Finally, a qualitative analysis of these cases was carried out, in particular of the judicial reasoning provided by the judges, to explore how these controversial cases are handled by the judiciary, and the implications of this on the interplay between gender, sex, sexuality and authoritarian power in the context of authoritarian legality in China. This research argues that the criminal justice system in China embodies and reinforces a particular gendered order and “sex hierarchy,” instrumentalised by the state to maintain its authoritarian power.

The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy series Law and Authoritarianism. 2023, 69pg

By Nathan T. Connealy, Eric L. Piza, Rachael A. Arietti,  George O. Mohler &  Jeremy G. Carter 

Objectives

We examine the potential effects of gunshot detection technology longitudinally in Chicago through a synthetic control quasi-experiment.

Methods

Police districts receiving gunshot detection technology were compared to a synthetic control unit via a staggered difference-in-difference design. Across eleven unique gunshot detection technology deployment phases, the analyses produce results for aggregate, initial versus expanded, and phase-specific deployment effects across five gun violence outcome measures.

Results

Gunshot detection technology had no effect on fatal shootings, non-fatal shootings, general part I gun crimes, or shots fired calls for service. Gun recoveries significantly increased in the aggregate, initial, and expanded models, and in several individual phases relative to controls.

Conclusions

The results align with prior literature that has found a procedural benefit, but not a crime prevention benefit, of gunshot detection technology. Law enforcement agencies seeking crime prevention or reduction solutions may be better served by investing in other options. 

J Exp Criminol (2024).

By Joseph Schafer, Captain Cory Nelson (ret.)

Since the mid-1990s, policing has struggled to recruit and retain quality applicants. Although many efforts have been made to alleviate this problem, the situation persists. This paper offers alternative suggestions for the policing profession to alleviate its recruitment and retention crisis. The authors argue that it is time to look beyond typical human resource recommendations to fix this problem. The profession needs to begin to experiment with more innovative solutions if it is going to achieve more complete and quality staffing outcomes. 

CNA, 2022. 48p.