By Reprieve

Researchers at Reprieve conducted an in-depth comparative study of botched lethal injection executions in the modern era of the U.S. death penalty, cross-referenced against the 1,407 lethal injection executions carried out or attempted during that period. The research found that: • Black people had 220% higher odds of suffering a botched lethal injection execution than white people. • Botched lethal injection executions occurred whether a one-drug or a three-drug protocol was used, and regardless of whether the primary drug was sodium thiopental, pentobarbital or midazolam. • Botched lethal injection executions typically lasted a very long time. Over a third lasted over 45 minutes; over a quarter lasted an hour or more. • The odds of a botched lethal injection execution increased by 6% on average for each additional year of age. • In the state of Arkansas, 75% of botched lethal injection executions were of Black people, despite executions of Black people accounting for just 33% of all executions.

In the state of Georgia, 86% of botched lethal injection executions were of Black people, despite executions of Black people accounting for just 30% of all executions. • In the state of Oklahoma, 83% of botched lethal injection executions were of Black people, despite executions of Black people accounting for just 30% of all executions. • Secrecy and haste were found to be factors contributing to increased rates of botched and prolonged executions.   

New Orleans LA: Reprieve. 2024, 36pg

by Osborne Jackson

This paper examines the short-run and long-run effects of felony conviction on crime using increases in felony larceny thresholds as an exogenous, negative shock to felony conviction probability. A felony larceny threshold is the dollar value of stolen property that determines whether a larceny theft may be charged in court as a felony rather than a misdemeanor. Felony larceny threshold policy helps states govern felony convictions, thereby regulating punishment severity.

The author focuses on the theft value distribution between old and new larceny thresholds. In theory, this “response region” is where, following enactment of a higher threshold, the incentives to commit larceny of a given stolen value amount increase the most, because that crime switches from being a felony to a misdemeanor.

Boston: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. 2020, 80pg

By Aaron Littman

The machinery of mass incarceration in America is huge, intricate, and destructive. To understand it and to tame it, scholars and activists look for its levers of power—where are they, who holds them, and what motivates them? This much we know: legislators criminalize, police arrest, prosecutors charge, judges sentence, prison officials confine, and probation and parole officials manage release.

As this Article reveals, jailers, too, have their hands on the controls. The sheriffs who run jails—along with the county commissioners who fund them—have tremendous but unrecognized power over the size and shape of our criminal legal system, particularly in rural areas and for people accused or convicted of low-level crimes.

Because they have the authority to build jails (or not) as well as the authority to release people (or not), they exercise significant control not merely over conditions but also over both the supply of and demand for jail bedspace: how large they should be, how many people they should confine, and who those people should be. By advocating, financing, and contracting for jail bedspace, sheriffs and commissioners determine who has a say and who has a stake in carceral expansion and contraction. Through their exercise of arrest and release powers, sheriffs affect how many and which people fill their cells. Constraints they create or relieve on carceral infrastructure exert or alleviate pressure on officials at the local, state, and federal levels.

Drawing on surveys of state statutes and of municipal securities filings, data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, case law, and media coverage, this Article tells overlooked stories—of sheriffs who send their deputies out door knocking to convince voters to support a new tax to fund a new jail, and of commissioners who raise criminal court fees and sign contracts to detain “rental inmates” to ensure that incarceration “pays for itself.” It also tells of sheriffs who override the arrest decisions of city police officers, release defendants who have not made bail, and cut sentences short—and of those who would rather build more beds than push back on carceral inertia.

A spotlight on jails and the officials who run them illuminates important attributes of our carceral crisis. The power and incentives to build jail bedspace are as consequential as the power and incentives to fill it. Expanding a county’s jailing capacity has profound ramifications across local, state, and federal criminal legal systems. Sheriffs have a unique combination of controls over how big and how full their jails are, but this role consolidation does not produce the restraint that some have predicted. Their disclaimers of responsibility are a smokescreen, obscuring sheriffs’ bureaucratic commitment to perpetuating mass incarceration. State courts and federal agencies have increasingly recognized and regulated public profiteering through jail contracting, and advocates have begun to hold jailers accountable, challenging expansion in polling booths and budget meetings.

74 Vanderbilt Law Review 861 (2021)

By Switchback

The report focuses on prison-leavers’ mental health. We know that the experience of prison-release can cause high levels of anxiety. At the same time mental health care in prison and especially after release is minimal and worsening.

Meanwhile at Switchback, over the last two years we have seen a 15% rise in the number of our Trainees with identified mental health needs (from 29% to 44%).

This report highlights the urgent need for us to reshape the way we release people from prison. We are calling for better mental health support for people leaving prison and for a prison release system that responds to the emotional challenges that people leaving prison are facing. A system that supports people to live life differently.

The experiences included within the report demonstrate inequities in access to care for people from ethnic minority backgrounds, with 90% of Switchback Trainees being from an ethnic minority background. Importantly mental health was a repeated topic of discussion in our Experts by Experience meetings, and together we decided we wanted to do something about it.

London: Switchback, 2024. 24p.

By The Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3)

   The Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3) provides the key interface between the voluntary sector, and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), in order to increase mutual understanding and build a strong and effective partnership. The group is made up of senior leaders from the voluntary sector and meets quarterly with civil servants to provide guidance and feedback on MoJ policy developments. The RR3 convenes Special Interest Groups (SIGs) to advise on specific areas of policy and practice as the need arises. This Employment SIG has focused on the barriers to employment faced by people, both in prison and on their release into the community. This focus has been caveated with the acknowledgement that there are many people in prison who require additional, pre-employment support in order that they can gain the skills and the confidence that they need to secure employment at an appropriate juncture. For this group, the focus has been not on the immediate steps needed to secure employment, either in prison or in the community, but on addressing more complex needs that present obstacles to gaining employment in the future. Following an introduction into the current employment situation faced by people leaving prison and recent initiatives implemented in prisons to boost employment outcomes, the paper focuses on the following areas: 1) Prison workshops 2) The financial security of people in prison 3) Employer and training provider engagement 4) Addressing complex needs 5) Service coordination

Suffolk, UK: Clinks. 2024, 17pg

By Shirin Bakhshay

The American public has complex views on criminal punishment. They are driven primarily by retributive motivations. But they have other justice considerations, such as restoration and rehabilitation, that can be activated in different ways. Laypersons are also motivated to psychologically distance and dissociate from those they perceive to be criminal “others” and to see punishment itself as a kind of dissociation, embodied by the prison form. The psychological processes that produce these beliefs lead to an insistence on prison as a necessary criminal justice outcome, despite reservations about its effectiveness and concerns about the state of mass incarceration and punitive penal policy more generally.

This Article builds on the psychology of punishment literature to offer a deeper understanding of the dissociative theory of punishment and how it produces the belief in the necessity of prison. Drawing on original, qualitative focus group data and analysis, this Article identifies the specific psychological mechanisms that motivate dissociation, explains the role of the belief in retributive justice as part of this process, and offers nuanced insights into the contours of the dissociative theory and the way people psychologically reason about criminal punishment.

Georgetown Law Journal, Vol. 111, No. 6, 2023, 84pg

By Craig S. Lerner

For over 250 years, Western intellectuals have been pronouncing capital punishment a barbarity doomed to be swept into the dustbin of history. The death penalty, we have repeatedly been told, is an “anachronism” inconsistent with the spirit of the modern age—a relic that would, in a generation or two, fade away. What is distinctive about recent decades is the confidence and monolithic quality of elite opinion, at least in the West. There is a swelling confidence that the death penalty is, at last, at the cusp of extinction.

This Article questions the descriptive claim that the death penalty is dying, either in the United States or in the world at large. Simply counting the number of nations that have technically abolished the death penalty fails to capture the apparent permanence of capital punishment. Many non-Western civilizations retain the death penalty with a vigor that surprises and disappoints Western intellectuals. And even within the United States, given the prohibitive cost of imposing a death sentence, it is remarkable how determined so many Americans are to continue to execute the worst of criminals.

As argued in this Article, the simplest answer to the puzzle of capital punishment’s persistence is that the retributive impulse is, as Justice Potter Stewart observed, “part of the nature of man.” The answer is so obvious that what is puzzling is not the persistence of the death penalty but that some people regard this persistence as puzzling. The dismay of modern Western intellectuals at the recurring failure of abolitionist efforts points to defining features of that intelligentsia. Since the Enlightenment, many intellectuals have regarded nature as a weak and even nonexistent constraint on human progress. It is from this perspective that the persistence of capital punishment, so seemingly rooted in human nature, comes to sight as such a puzzling disappointment.

Lerner, Craig S., The Puzzling Persistence of Capital Punishment. 2024, 48pg

By Bryce E. Peterson, KiDeuk Kim, and Rochisha Shukla

This document provides a technical summary report of the Urban Institute’s research on contraband in jails and prisons in the United States, as well as the interdiction strategies that correctional agencies use to prevent, detect, and removed contraband from their facilities. The study employed a mixed-methods design which consisted of field testing the National Survey of Correctional Contraband (NSCC) in the six state Departments of Correction, and conducting in-depth case studies in 11 prisons and jails, including facility walk-throughs, observations, and semi-structured interviews with correctional facility leadership and staff. Key findings are organized based on four themes: entry points; interdiction strategies; prevalence of contraband; correlates of contraband levels. The summary concludes with a discussion of the implications of key findings for criminal justice policy and practice, as well as recommendations for future research on contraband issues and interdiction strategies.

Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2024. 37p.

By Michele Goodwin

 Nearly sixty years ago, Dr. King penned the illuminating Letter from a Birmingham Jail, marking the persistence of criminal punishment in the lives Black Americans seeking inclusion, equality, and freedom. Symbolically, his confinement both foreshadowed the strange and troubling role incarceration would play in the lives of Black Americans generations to come and illustrated the connective fabric of slavery to his present conditions. The profundity of the letter cannot be ignored, nor the space from which Dr. King wrote it—incarcerated after peacefully protesting to advance civil rights for Black Americans. Decades later, many of the concerns undergirding the impetus for Dr. King’s powerful missive, including voter suppression, persist. Similarly, equality in education remains an unanswered goal and incomplete vision for the civil rights movement. In fact, the modern challenge no longer demands inclusion and desegregation alone—the urgent objectives undergirding  Brown v. Board of Education —but rather sparing Black children from unequal surveillance, punishments, and the “school to prison” pipeline. Yet, equality in voting and education—as crucial as they are—did not comprise nor define the full vision for the civil rights movement or emancipation from enslavement for that matter. The path to substantive civil liberties and civil rights—and freedom in a meaningful sense—included dismantling discrimination in housing, employment, healthcare, food access, and criminal justice forged by lawmakers. 

Boston: Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, 2022. 68p.

By Eric G. Lambert, Monica Solinas-Saunders, Nancy L. Hogan

This study examined the influence of job demands (role ambiguity, role conflict, role overload and dangerousness) and job resources (job variety, supervisor structure and training views) on employee perceptions of procedural justice, general perceptions of distributive justice, and specific perceptions of distributive justice. Using a sample of 160 employees at a high-security prison, the regression analyses found that only demands of role conflict was inversely correlated with procedural justice and both distributive justice measures. Role ambiguity was inversely related to procedural but was not related to either dimension of distributive justice. Furthermore, dangerousness was inversely associated with distributive justice (both general and specific), but it was not correlated with procedural justice. Among the job resources, job variety was positively associated with procedural and both distributive justice measures. Supervisor structure was predictive of procedural but not distributive justice. Role overload, and training views had non-significant relationships with all the justice measures.

The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice Volume 63, Issue 1, 2024

By Abby Ballou

It is widely held that providing postsecondary education programs to incarcerated individuals will improve postrelease labor market outcomes. Little research evidence exists, however, to support this view. To test the effect of postsecondary carceral education credentials on employer perceptions of hireability, the current study uses a factorial design to survey a sample of employers nationwide (N = 2,538). Employers were presented with résumés of fictional applicants applying to a job as a customer service representative at a large call center. The résumés randomized education credentials earned while incarcerated. Results indicate that employers were significantly more willing to interview applicants with postsecondary education credentials relative to applicants with only a General Educational Development (GED) diploma. Although Black applicants who had earned a sub-baccalaureate certificate saw improvements in hireability relative to GED holders, Black applicants who had earned a bachelor's degree did not. In contrast, White applicants benefited both from sub-baccalaureate certificates and bachelor's degrees. Results from a mediation analysis suggest that these credentials signal important information to employers about applicant attributes and that improved perceptions of applicant ability and likelihood to reoffend drive the overall effect. Implications for future research and policy are explored.

First published: 04 March 2024 https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12364

MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

BY Gordon Hawkins

The Prison: Policy and Practice delves into the intricate world of correctional facilities, offering a comprehensive overview of the policies governing them and the practices implemented within their walls. This book provides readers with a deep exploration of the evolution of prison systems, the impact of various policies on inmates and staff, and the challenges faced by modern correctional institutions. By examining the intersection of policy and practice, this insightful work sheds light on the complexities of the prison environment and the ongoing debates surrounding criminal justice reform. An essential read for scholars, policymakers, and anyone interested in understanding the role of prisons in contemporary society.

Chicago. University of Chicago Press. 1976. 228p.

MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

EDITED BY Hyman Gross and Andrew von Hirsch

Sentencing, edited by Hyman Gross and Andrew von Hirsch, is a comprehensive collection of essays exploring various aspects of sentencing practices. This edited volume delves into the complexities of sentencing theory, policy, and reform, offering diverse perspectives from leading experts in the field. Whether you are a legal scholar, practitioner, or student, this book provides valuable insights into the challenges and debates surrounding sentencing in modern criminal justice systems.

New York / Oxford OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS. 1981. 401p.

MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

By Johannes Andenaes

Andenaes explores the intricate relationship between punishment and deterrence, shedding light on the complexities of these concepts within the realm of criminal justice. By delving into the various theories and practices surrounding punishment, Andenaes addresses how the fear of punishment can potentially deter individuals from engaging in criminal behavior. Through his analysis, Andenaes underscores the fine balance that must be struck between exacting punitive measures and fostering a deterrent effect to effectively combat crime in society. His work prompts readers to critically examine the role of punishment as a means of deterring future criminal acts, highlighting the nuances and challenges inherent in this multifaceted process.

University of Michigan Press, 1974, 189p

MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

By Dennis Sullivan

In "The Punishment of Crime in Colonial New York" by Dennis Sullivan, the author delves into the intricacies of the legal system during the colonial period in New York. Sullivan provides a detailed examination of the various forms of punishment meted out to criminals, shedding light on the harsh realities of justice in that era. Through meticulous research and analysis, Sullivan paints a vivid picture of the judicial processes and the societal attitudes towards crime and punishment. Readers are given a glimpse into a time where punishment was often swift and severe, reflecting the values and norms of colonial society. Sullivan's work offers valuable insights into the history of crime and punishment, making it a significant contribution to the study of early American legal systems.

PETER LANG. New York • Washington, D.C./Baltimore • Boston. 1997. 367p.

MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

By Ernest van den Haag

In the realm of criminal justice, the age-old debate surrounding punishment and its justifications continues to spark intellectual discourse. Examining the perspective famously articulated by Ernest van den Haag brings to light the complexities inherent in the concept of punishing criminals. Van den Haag's stance, advocating for the retributive nature of punishment as a means to uphold societal values and deter wrongdoing, remains a thought-provoking cornerstone in the field.

Delving into the intricacies of this enduring question sheds light on the multifaceted considerations at play when contemplating the appropriate response to criminal acts. As society grapples with the delicate balance between justice, rehabilitation, and retribution, the legacy of van den Haag's insights serves as a poignant reminder of the moral and ethical dilemmas woven into the fabric of punitive measures.

In a landscape where the dynamics of crime and punishment evolve alongside societal norms and values, the exploration of van den Haag's perspective offers a compelling starting point for engaging with the profound complexities inherent in addressing criminal behavior. Ultimately, the discourse surrounding punishing criminals remains a poignant reflection of humanity's ongoing quest for a fair and just society.

NY. Basic Books. 1975. 293p.

MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

By Benedict S. Alper

"PRISONS INSIDE OUT: Alternatives in Correctional Reform" delves into innovative approaches to reforming the traditional prison system. From restorative justice practices to community-based rehabilitation programs, this book explores a range of alternative methods aimed at transforming the correctional system. By highlighting successful case studies and thought-provoking insights, this book challenges conventional norms and offers new perspectives on how we can redefine the purpose and effectiveness of prisons in modern society. Whether you are a policymaker, a criminal justice professional, or simply an interested individual, "PRISONS INSIDE OUT" is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the complexities of correctional reform.

Cambridge Mass. Ballinger Co. 1974.

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EDITED BY TARA HERIVEL AND PAUL WRIGHT

"Prison Nation: The Warehousing of America's Poor" offers a compelling examination of the intersecting issues of poverty and incarceration in the United States. Through meticulous research and incisive analysis, this book sheds light on the troubling reality of how the most vulnerable members of society are disproportionately affected by the criminal justice system. Blending personal narratives with stark statistics, the author navigates the complex web of policies and practices that perpetuate a cycle of poverty and imprisonment. An urgent call to action, "Prison Nation" challenges readers to confront the deep-rooted inequalities that plague the American justice system and to advocate for meaningful change.

Routledge. NEW YORK AND LONDON. 2003. 333p.

MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

By Mary Hostetler Oakey. Edited by Belinda Swanson

In this insightful book, Mary Hostetler Oake delves into the historical evolution of penal philosophies and practices in the nation's capital. From the early days of the gallows to the modern approaches to criminal justice, Oake provides a comprehensive look at how attitudes towards punishment have changed over time. Drawing on meticulous research and engaging writing, JOURNEY FROM THE GALLOWS offers a thought-provoking exploration of a topic that continues to shape our society today.

University Press of America. ND. 387p.

MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

By Debra Smith

"In Prison" by Debra Smith is a gripping novel that delves into the dark and often overlooked world of incarceration. Through vivid storytelling and compelling characters, Smith takes readers on a raw and emotional journey inside the walls of a prison. The novel sheds light on the complexities of human nature, the harsh realities of life behind bars, and the enduring power of hope and redemption. A thought-provoking and poignant read that will stay with you long after you turn the final page.

Adelaide. GINNINDERRA PRESS. 2008. . 131p.