By The Civil Commitment Working Group

This report is a summary of the responses that people incarcerated at Rushville Treatment and Detention Facility shared in a 2019 survey. It highlights the concerns, safety risks, and abuses that people who are locked up in Rushville shared with us and connects these self-reports with supporting data collected by professionals who study civil commitment. Rushville residents were clear about the following: 1. Civil commitment at Rushville Treatment and Detention Facility is punishment, not treatment. 2. Civil commitment at Rushville disproportionately harms people from marginalized groups, particularly LGBTQ+, Black, multiracial, and Indigenous people. 3. Rushville is a violent place with poor living conditions. 4. Civil commitment at Rushville is a life sentence. Our Recommendations United by our opposition to sexual violence and our commitment to building a world where no one experiences sexual harm, we do not believe it is possible to build that world so long as civil commitment continues to exist. We know that ending sexual harm and closing Rushville will not happen overnight. To that end, we have provided both immediate and long-term proposals directly informed by feedback from people detained at Rushville. End civil commitment • Reallocate resources that are earmarked for expanding Rushville’s capacity or bolstering its punitive and surveilling practices. • Make Rushville voluntary. Fewer people in • Provide education about civil commitment for people serving criminal sentences. • Eliminate the STATIC 99R. • Invest in voluntary, community-based treatment options. More people out • Release people at higher rates. • Create transparent and accessible pathways for accessing conditional release. • Instate therapist-patient confidentiality.

• Invest in voluntary community-based treatment options. Help those inside now • Allow external monitors to survey the facility. • Expand access to the outside world. • Reallocate resources to offer more one-on-one, confidential therapy. What people on the outside can do right now • Send in care packages of food, gender-affirming products, toiletries, and other necessities. • Educate yourself and others about civil commitment. • Challenge stigma surrounding people who have caused sexual harm. • Support or launch transformative justice initiatives in your community.      

Chicago; Rushville, Civil Commitment Working Group Illinois, 2022. 2022. 32p.

By  Sandhya Kajeepeta

After four decades of growth, the size of the U.S. incarcerated population has been declining for the past decade, and racial disparities were beginning to shrink. The start of the COVID-19 pandemic triggered immediate calls for decarceration (i.e., reducing the number of people incarcerated), given the high risk of the virus spreading in congregate settings like jails and prisons and subsequent, inevitable spread to the neighboring community. Although the majority of incarcerated people were left behind bars to face potential illness and death, the U.S. incarcerated population experienced its largest recorded one-year population reduction in U.S. history. This large-scale decarceration undoubtedly saved lives and will have long-term benefits for those who were diverted out of jails and prisons, as well as their families and communities. However, not all benefited from the decarceration equally: racial disparities in jail and prison worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Black people represented a larger percentage of the incarcerated population as it declined. In this brief, we examine the drivers of pandemic-related decarceration, interrogate its impacts on racial disparities, and draw lessons to inform policy recommendations for racially equitable decarceration.

New York: NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Thurgood Marshall Institute, 2023. 21p.

MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

Edited by Gertrude Ezorsky

Delve into the intricate world of punishment through a philosophical lens with the updated second edition of "Philosophical Perspectives on Punishment." This thought-provoking book offers a comprehensive exploration of the moral, ethical, and societal implications of punishment, inviting readers to reflect on the complex nature of justice and retribution. From ancient philosophical theories to modern-day perspectives, this edition delves into the evolving discourse surrounding punishment in a changing world. Whether you are a scholar, student, or simply a curious mind, this book provides a nuanced understanding of punishment through the philosophical perspectives that shape our conceptions of right and wrong.

NY. SUNY Press. 2015. 446p.

By Ashley Nellis

When former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd by kneeling on his neck in 2020, the world witnessed the most racist elements of the U.S. criminal legal system on broad display. The uprisings that followed Floyd’s death articulated a vision for transforming public safety practices and investments. Almost one year later, Chauvin was convicted for Floyd’s death, a rare outcome among law enforcement officers who kill unarmed citizens. The fight for racial justice within the criminal legal system continues, however. The data findings featured in this report epitomize the enormity of the task. This report details our observations of staggering disparities among Black and Latinx people imprisoned in the United States given their overall representation in the general population. The latest available data regarding people sentenced to state prison reveal that Black Americans are imprisoned at a rate that is roughly five times the rate of white Americans. During the present era of criminal justice reform, not enough emphasis has been focused on ending racial and ethnic disparities systemwide.

Washington, DC: The Sentencing Project, 2021. 25p.