By Todd R. Clear

At no time in history, and certainly in no other democratic society, have prisons been filled so quickly and to such capacity than in the United States. And nowhere has this growth been more concentrated than in the disadvantaged--and primarily minority--neighborhoods of America's largest urban cities. In the most impoverished places, as much as 20% of the adult men are locked up on any given day, and there is hardly a family without a father, son, brother, or uncle who has not been behind bars. While the effects of going to and returning home from prison are well-documented, little attention has been paid to the impact of removal on neighborhoods where large numbers of individuals have been imprisoned. In the first detailed, empirical exploration of the effects of mass incarceration on poor places, Imprisoning Communities demonstrates that in high doses incarceration contributes to the very social problems it is intended to solve: it breaks up family and social networks; deprives siblings, spouses, and parents of emotional and financial support; and threatens the economic and political infrastructure of already struggling neighborhoods. Especially at risk are children who, research shows, are more likely to commit a crime if a father or brother has been to prison. Clear makes the counterintuitive point that when incarceration concentrates at high levels, crime rates will go up. Removal, in other words, has exactly the opposite of its intended effect: it destabilizes the community, thus further reducing public safety. Demonstrating that the current incarceration policy in urban America does more harm than good, from increasing crime to widening racial disparities and diminished life chances for youths, Todd Clear argues that we cannot overcome the problem of mass incarceration concentrated in poor places without incorporating an idea of community justice into our failing correctional and criminal justice systems.

New York: Oxford University Press, 2070. 207p.

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.

By Mia Bird, Omair Gill, Johanna Lacoe, Molly Pickard, Steven Raphael and Alissa Skog

Criminal sentences resulting in admission to a California state prison are determined by both the nature of the criminal incident as well as the criminal history of the person convicted of the offense. Cases with convictions for multiple offenses may lead to multiple sentences that are either served concurrently or consecutively. Characteristics of the offense (such as the use of a firearm) or aspects of the person’s criminal history (such as a prior conviction for a serious or violent offense) may add to the length of the base sentence through what are commonly referred to as offense or case enhancements, respectively. California’s Three-Strikes law presents a unique form of sentence enhancement that lengthens sentences based on an individual’s criminal history. Consider an individual with one prior serious or violent felony conviction (one “strike”) who is subsequently convicted of another felony. Under Three Strikes, the sentence for the subsequent felony will be double the length specified for the crime regardless of whether the new conviction is for a serious or violent offense. For an individual with two prior violent or serious felony convictions, a third conviction for a serious or violent felony would receive an indeterminate prison term of at least 25 years to life, with the exact date of release determined by the Parole Board.   

Los Angeles: California Policy Lab,Committee on Revision of the Penal Code, 2022.  45p.

By James Beaufils, Chris Cunneen, Sophie Russell

This research project was commissioned by NSW Corrective Services. It involved exploratory research into the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with post-release parole supervision and reintegration in NSW. The research focussed on identifying the qualities of the relationship between parole supervisors and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parolees that successfully assisted individuals with reintegration and those aspects of supervision that require improvement. The evaluation reviewed the relevant literature and used qualitative methods by way of 32 in-depth interviews with parolees, Community Corrections Officers (CCOs) and Aboriginal Client Services Officers (ACSOs) in six community corrections offices and three prisons..

Sydney, NSW : Corrective Services NSW and Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research, University of Technology Sydney, 2021 132p.

By William J. Sabol and Thaddeus L. Johnson

Although significant gaps remain, disparities between Black and White people continued to narrow at nearly every stage of the criminal justice process between 2016 and 2020. In some cases, the pace of the decline slowed; in others, the disparity gap closed entirely. These trends extend patterns from 2000 to 2016 that were identified in CCJ’s first report on correctional control by race and sex. Subsequent reports will explore trends in disparity among female populations and by ethnicity, assess trends in multiple states, and seek to identify what, if any, policy changes may have contributed to reductions in racial disparities.

New York: Council on Criminal Justice, 2022. 36p.

By Madeline Brown, Jessica Perez, Matthew Eldridge, and Kelly Walsh

As counties across the United States search for ways to reduce the oversized and damaging footprint of our criminal justice system, many are looking upstream—to housing and the evidence that connects it to economic stability and overall well-being. In 2020, the Urban Institute set out to identify local housing programs and policies that had been evaluated for their ability to reduce jail incarceration. We held three private roundtables with practitioners, people with lived experience of jail incarceration, and subject matter experts across housing, behavioral health, and criminal justice sectors to better understand how gaps across service areas and lack of coordination are preventing large-scale systems change. We were specifically interested in learning how existing funding streams limit housing options for people with criminal justice involvement and how the role of impact investing and other financing models could help remove those limits. This report presents the learning from that work and elements of investment-ready housing strategies with the potential to reduce the use of local jails.

Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2021. 35p.

By Jesse Jannetta and Marina Duane

Pretrial risk assessments are common tools for guiding pretrial release decisionmaking and have been adopted by many of the local jurisdictions. Risk assessment tools have been advanced as a promising alternative to the use of monetary conditions of release. However, as pretrial risk assessments have become more prevalent, they have also been subject to critiques about their potential for exacerbating inequities in the criminal legal system. This case study, part of a series highlighting work supported by the Safety and Justice Challenge, examines how Charleston County, South Carolina, and Lucas County, Ohio, implemented two different pretrial risk assessments and used them to inform pretrial decisions as part of their efforts to reduce the misuse of their jails.

Washington, DC: Urban Institute Justice Policy Center, 2022. 42p.

By Bryce Peterson, KiDeuk Kim, Rochisha Shukla and Megan Kizzort

Contraband cell phones threaten the safety and security of people who are incarcerated, correctional staff, and the public. They can facilitate violence and perpetuate underground economies. Contraband cell phones enter facilities through internal and external mechanisms; they can be brought in by facility staff, or they can be brought in by visitors, thrown over facility fences, or flown in on drones. This report reviews emerging technological strategies for detecting, disabling, and removing contraband cell phones.

Washington, DC: Urban Institute Justice Policy Center, 2022. 20p.

By Joe Russo, Rochisha Shukla, Bryce Peterson and KiDeuk Kim

Contraband cell phones threaten the security of prisons and jails and the safety of people who are incarcerated, correctional staff, and the public. In response, prison and jail administrators across the country employ a range of strategies to detect, disable, and remove contraband cell phones from their institutions. Though many of these strategies rely on novel technologies, nontechnological factors are equally critical for addressing the contraband cell phone issue. In this report, we describe nontechnological solutions corrections agencies can employ.

Washington, DC: Urban Institute Justice Policy Center, 2022. 21p.

By Kierra B. Jones, Paige S. Thompson and Marina Duane

Pennington County, South Dakota has roughly 113,000 residents and is the place of origin for many Indigenous peoples who reside on reservations in and around Rapid City. Over the last 20 years, Indigenous communities have been overrepresented in jail and the criminal legal system in Pennington County. As such, Pennington County pursued Safety and Justice Challenge funding to safely reduce its jail population by improving case processing practices and creating alternatives to incarceration in the community. This case study, a part of a series highlighting work supported by the Safety and Justice Challenge, examines how Pennington County implemented three core strategies to reduce its overall jail population and racial and ethnic disparities in that population. These strategies were (1) improve tribal outreach activities and strengthen tribal relationships, (2) create alternatives to incarceration, and (3) optimize case processing and operations.

Washington, DC: Urban Institute Justice Policy Center, 2022. 50p.

By Andreea Matei

Solitary confinement (also commonly referred to as restrictive housing) is one of the most consistently researched prison practices. This brief synthesizes the extensive research on solitary confinement, identifies areas for continuing research, and highlights policy and practice reforms. After reviewing extensive research, this scan found that the overwhelming amount of research proves that solitary confinement is psychologically and physiologically damaging and has negative outcomes on the safety of people in prison and the public through increased recidivism rates. Based on these results, carceral agencies should end their use of solitary confinement if they wish to improve the health and safety of those in prisons and the general public.

Washington, DC: Urban Institute, Justice Policy Center, 2022. 19p.

By Partnership for the Public Good

Solitary confinement exacts an incalculable human toll. It also imposes heavy financial costs for New York State and localities across the state. Reducing the use of solitary confinement by enacting the Humane Alternatives to Long Term (HALT) Solitary Confinement Act1 could not only most importantly stop inhumane practices and save lives, but also save New York State and localities over $1.32 billion over 10 years. New York State is grappling with the economic devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, while also in the midst of the largest protests against racial inequality in a generation. Meanwhile, Black and Latinx people continue to suffer disproportionately, and often fatally, from solitary confinement. As these crises converge, it is both a fiscal and moral imperative for New York State to reduce the billions of dollars spent on its incarceration system and use the savings to better fund education, housing, health care, and employment opportunities for the communities most harmed by COVID-19 and longstanding systemic racism and inequality.

New York: Partnership for the Public Good, 2020. 32p.

By The # HaltSolitary Campaign

In the U.S. criminal legal system, individuals sentenced to prison are required to relinquish their liberty as redress for the crimes for which they have been convicted. They are not supposed to also give up their humanity, their physical and mental health, or their lives. Yet in New York’s state prisons, these are the terrible prices many incarcerated people end up paying. Some of the incidents of suicide and self-harm in the state’s prisons may be beyond the control of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS). But there can be no doubt that prison conditions profoundly affect the level of suffering and despair felt by incarcerated people, and that inhumane conditions often lead to desperate responses. This report provides hard evidence, drawn from data provided by DOCCS and other state agencies, that the rate of suicides in New York’s prisons far exceeds the national prison average. It also establishes an undeniable link between the use of solitary confinement and higher rates of suicide, suicide attempts, and self-inflicted injury. Taken together, these numbers demand immediate and drastic change in DOCCS policies and practices in relation to solitary confinement. They demand that New York’s lawmakers put an end to preventable suffering, self-harm, and death in our prisons by enacting the HALT Solitary Confinement Act, A.2500/S.1623.1 Preventing self-injury and suicide by enacting HALT is even more imperative now, as COVID-19 increases the levels of anxiety, fear, and risk of self-harm for people in solitary during the pandemic.

New York: The New York Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (CAIC) , 2020. 22p.

By Teresa García Castro

As Latin American countries continue to grapple with worsening prison conditions, overcrowding, and the potentially devastating impact of COVID-19 in such prisons, a new report found an alarming absence of standards and public policies to protect an often-overlooked population: trans women deprived of liberty. The report—the first-ever regional study of its kind—underscores the urgent need to release as many people behind bars as possible before COVID-19 enters the region’s crumbling prison infrastructure. Drawing on a participatory research process led by formerly incarcerated trans women, the study, Trans Women Deprived of Liberty: Invisible Stories Behind Bars, is the result of a collaboration between nine human rights and advocacy organizations: Almas Cautivas, Casa de las Muñecas Tiresias, Casa Hogar Paola Buenrostro, the Corpora en Libertad Network, Dejusticia, Equis: Justice for Women, the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), the Prison Ombudsman’s National Office in Argentina, and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA). The report describes the failures of Latin American governments to implement basic measures to protect trans women deprived of liberty from violence and abuse. As a result, trans women are subjected to discrimination, stigmatization, and criminalization at every stage of interaction with the criminal justice system, the report found. As Latin American countries continue to grapple with worsening prison conditions, overcrowding, and the potentially devastating impact of COVID-19 in such prisons, a new report found an alarming absence of standards and public policies to protect an often-overlooked population: trans women deprived of liberty. The report—the first-ever regional study of its kind—underscores the urgent need to release as many people behind bars as possible before COVID-19 enters the region’s crumbling prison infrastructure.

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  Drawing on a participatory research process led by formerly incarcerated trans women, the study, Trans Women Deprived of Liberty: Invisible Stories Behind Bars, is the result of a collaboration between nine human rights and advocacy organizations: Almas Cautivas, Casa de las Muñecas Tiresias, Casa Hogar Paola Buenrostro, the Corpora en Libertad Network, Dejusticia, Equis: Justice for Women, the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), the Prison Ombudsman’s National Office in Argentina, and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA). The report describes the failures of Latin American governments to implement basic measures to protect trans women deprived of liberty from violence and abuse. As a result, trans women are subjected to discrimination, stigmatization, and criminalization at every stage of interaction with the criminal justice system, the report found.

Washington, DC: Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), 2020. 26p.

By Teresa García Castro

COVID-19 has shed light on the need for governments across the Americas to take steps to address prison overcrowding, given the high risk of deadly outbreaks in places of detention where social distancing and other sanitary measures are difficult to achieve. In this context, some governments have promoted decarceration measures and alternatives to incarceration including house arrest—that is, court-ordered detention of a person in their place of residence—as a way to reduce overcrowding. When implemented effectively, house arrest is meant to be a less restrictive form of confinement and to help those deprived of liberty reintegrate back into their communities and avoid landing back in prison. But as detailed in a new report, Imprisoned at Home: Women under House Arrest in Latin America, imposing strict house arrest without guaranteeing fundamental human rights, particularly for people in low-income situations, can make house arrest just as punitive as incarceration. House arrest should not simply replace one form of incarceration for another. Governments across the Americas should guarantee that people subjected to this measure have their rights protected. If you’re placed under house arrest but aren’t given the option to remain employed or seek emergency medical help when you need it, those are unacceptable conditions. Authorities must ensure that those under house arrest receive the support they need to provide for their families and reintegrate into their communities.

Washington, DC: Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), 2020. 20p.

By Coletta A. Youngers, Teresa García Castro, and Maria (Kiki) Manzur

Women’s incarceration in Latin America has increased dramatically over the last two decades. Not only have the sheer numbers increased, but the percentage of females in the overall prison population has also risen, and the rate of the ongoing increase in the size of the female prison population is alarming. Moreover, the number of women being put behind bars is growing much faster than the number of men. These trends cannot be explained by growth of the overall female population, or simply by the increase in the total number of prisoners. Rather, the driving force behind the data is the adoption of punitive drug laws that disproportionately affect women. In the majority of Latin American countries, drug-related crimes are the main cause of female incarceration. For instance, available data shows that in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela, drug-related offenses are the most common offense for female prisoners. In sheer numbers, more men than women are incarcerated for drug-related offenses in Latin American countries. But the percentage of women imprisoned for that offense is almost always higher than the percentage of men. Data compiled by WOLA shows that in Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama and Peru, the proportion of women prisoners who are incarcerated for drug offenses is at least 30% higher than in the case of men imprisoned in those countries. The excessive use of pretrial detention is a primary factor contributing to the over-incarceration of women for drug offenses in Latin America. Research shows that more women than men are in pretrial detention for drug offenses in almost all of the countries studied.

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  The incarceration of these women does nothing to disrupt drug markets or thwart the drug trade, as they are primarily engaged in high-risk but low-ranking jobs and are easily replaced, while those running criminal enterprises rarely end up behind bars. Yet the consequences of incarceration for these women, their families and their communities can be devastating. The COVID-19 pandemic—and its disproportionate impact on people in prison—gives even greater urgency to implementing reforms to dramatically reduce the number of women behind bars. The report concludes with a plea to adopt recommendations for developing and implementing gender-sensitive drug and prison-related policies rooted in human rights and public health—policies that also take into account the intersectionalities and multiple vulnerabilities of women in situations of poverty or extreme poverty; those who are LGBTI+, Afro-descendent, foreign women, or indigenous; and women who are pregnant and/or have children.

Washington, DC: Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), 2020. 33p.

By The U.S. Office of the Inspector General

As of September 2016, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) incarcerated 10,567 sentenced female inmates, representing 7 percent of the total BOP sentenced inmate population of 146,084. Though female inmates compose a small percentage of the nationwide incarcerated population, correctional officials have recognized that in some areas female and male inmates have different needs and BOP has adopted genderresponsive programs and policies that account for these needs. As a continuation of prior U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reviews examining BOP’s management of certain subpopulations of inmates, including aging inmates and inmates with mental illness in restrictive housing, OIG initiated this review of BOP’s management of female inmates, specifically BOP’s efforts and capacity to ensure that BOP-wide policies, programs, and decisions adequately address the distinctive needs of women. Our decision to initiate this review was also informed by members of Congress and public interest groups recently raising concerns about what they consider to be deficiencies in BOP’s current management of female inmates.

Washington, DC: U.S. Office of the Inspector General, 2018. 60p.

By The U.S. Civil Rights Commission

This report examines the state of federal civil rights protections for incarcerated women to explore women’s experiences while incarcerated. It covers a range of issues incarcerated women face, including access to healthcare, prevention of sexual assault, discipline and segregated housing, parental rights, and availability of programming. The report provides examples of prison administrations seeking to address these issues and it evaluates the response of the federal government. The Commission’s research includes examination of high rates of a history of trauma reported by incarcerated women, as well as policies responsive to this trauma. The report also offers recommendations to Congress and the executive branch.

Washington, DC: The Commission, 2020. 292p.

By Ashley Nellis

Nationwide one of every 15 women in prison — over 6,600 women — are serving a sentence of life with parole, life without parole, or a virtual life sentence of 50 years or more. The nearly 2,000 women serving life-without-parole sentences can expect to die in prison. Death sentences are permitted by 27 states and the federal government, and currently 52 women sit on death row. This report presents new data on the prevalence of both of these extreme sentences imposed on women.

Washington, DC: The Sentencing Project, 2021. 17p.

By The Sentencing Project

Over the past quarter century, there has been a profound change in the involvement of women within the criminal justice system. This is the result of more expansive law enforcement efforts, stiffer drug sentencing laws, and post-conviction barriers to reentry that uniquely affect women. The female incarcerated population stands nearly five times higher than in 1980. Over half (58%) of imprisoned women in state prisons have a child under the age of 18.1 Between 1980 and 2020, the number of incarcerated women increased by more than 475%, rising from a total of 26,326 in 1980 to 152,854 in 2020. The total count in 2020 represents a 30% reduction from the prior year—a substantial but insufficient downsizing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which some states began to reverse in 2021.

Washington, DC: The Sentencing Project, 2022. 6p.