Issue: Jail Overview

Issue Brief

Human Toll of Jail Interagency Collaboration Presumption of Innocence January 31, 2019

A Call For New Criminal Justice Values

Arthur Rizer, R Street Institute

The U.S. criminal justice system expresses our nation’s values, for better or worse. For most of the early and middle 20th century, rehabilitation guided criminal justice policies, but in the 1970s and 1980s, notions of retribution, deterrence, and incapacitation emerged as replacements and signaled a dramatic shift in criminal justice policy. Now, as we enter an era of criminal justice reform, it is time for a new set of values. Parsimony in criminal punishment, which seeks the least coercive response, can undo the damage of overreaching incarceration. Parsimony in punishment serves the more fundamental values of liberty and limited government, which embody a distinctively American commitment to human freedom. While our history has clearly disappointed the values of parsimony, liberty, and limited government, the oncoming era of criminal justice reform opens the door to new and exciting possibilities.

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Report

Data Analysis Interagency Collaboration Jail Populations March 15, 2017

Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2017

Prison Policy Initiative

Correctional facilities in the United States confine 2.3 million people, according to this report from the Prison Policy Initiative that seeks to provide clarity about the nation's systems of confinement. Supported by the Safety and Justice Challenge, the report answers the essential questions of how many people are locked up, where, and why. The report also states that the bulk of incarceration flows from policy choices made at the state and local level. Among other findings, it reveals that 99 percent of jail growth over the last 15 years was in the detention of people who are presumed innocent.  

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Issue Brief

Courts Interagency Collaboration Prosecutors December 20, 2016

MacArthur Safety and Justice Challenge Brings Defenders and Prosecutors Together to Address Jail Reform

National Legal Aid & Defender Association

In this interview, leaders from two Strategic Allies of the Safety and Justice Challenge, David LaBahn and Jo-Ann Wallace, discuss why partnerships among typically adversarial justice system stakeholders are important. LaBahn is President and CEO of the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, and Wallace is President and CEO of the National Legal Aid & Defender Association.

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Report

Data Analysis Interagency Collaboration Jail Populations July 27, 2015

From Silo to System: What Makes a Criminal Justice System Operate Like a System?

The Justice Management Institute

For years, criminal justice systems have been described as being broken into silos—an analogy that reflects how insular each part of the criminal justice system has become, which has resulted in heightened attention on the intake and output of people and less  attention paid to the fundamental principles of the justice system. This report is the result of an exploratory case study approach that used in-depth interviews, as well as quantitative and qualitative data, from eight county-based criminal justice systems that have been cited over the years as being “highly effective." The goal of this study was to create a framework for change that focuses on improving criminal justice system processes and outcomes by identifying the factors that create local systems that make improving the administration of justice a priority.

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Report

Human Toll of Jail Jail Populations Pretrial and Bail May 14, 2015

Incarceration’s Front Door

The Vera Institute of Justice

Local jails, which exist in nearly every town and city in America, are built to hold people deemed too dangerous to release pending trial or at high risk of flight. This, however, is no longer primarily what jails do or whom they hold, as people too poor to post bail languish there and racial disparities disproportionately impact communities of color. This report reviews existing research and data to take a deeper look at our nation’s misuse of local jails and to determine how we arrived at this point. It also highlights jurisdictions that have taken steps to mitigate negative consequences, all with the aim of informing local policymakers and their constituents who are interested in reducing recidivism, improving public safety, and promoting stronger, healthier communities.

Additional Downloads

• Infographic

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