Canada's Success in Reducing Youth Imprisonment in the Last Two Decades is Evidence that Reform of the Justice System is Possible, with the Political Will
"On an average day in 1997, 3,825 young people (ages 12 to 17) were serving sentences
in Canadian youth prisons. By 2015, that number had decreased to 527,
an 86 percent reduction. This is a drop from 157 per 100,000 12- to
17-year-olds to 23. Canada’s successful decrease in the number of youths
serving sentences in prison may provide lessons that can be applied to
other areas of public policy. Specifically, it may help us understand
Canada’s failure to reduce substantially its rate of adult imprisonment
and also that of youth pretrial detention."
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Showing posts with label imprisonment policy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label imprisonment policy. Show all posts
The War on Drugs and Prison Growth: Limited Importance, Limited Legislative Options
"The dramatic rise in imprisonment in the United States over the past forty years is hard to understate. Decades of stable incarceration ended suddenly in the mid-1970s, as the U.S. prison population soared from about 300,000 to 1.6 million inmates, and the incarceration rate from 100 per 100,000 to over 500 per 100,000....
Not surprisingly, academics, policymakers, and journalists alike have attempted to ferret out the causes of this carceral explosion. Though explanations differ, almost all analysts agree that a major cause has been the 'War on Drugs.'...
Yet despite its widespread popularity, the argument pinning prison growth to the War on Drugs oversimplifies the connection between the two. This article starts to develop a more sophisticated analysis of how the War on Drugs shapes prison populations, and examines its implications for the options available to legislatures seeking to better manage prison growth. My conclusions run contrary to the conventional wisdom and, when it comes to reform, will not be particularly optimistic: the role of the War on Drugs is greatly exaggerated, and the areas where it matters most are likely the ones over which legislatures have the least control."
"The dramatic rise in imprisonment in the United States over the past forty years is hard to understate. Decades of stable incarceration ended suddenly in the mid-1970s, as the U.S. prison population soared from about 300,000 to 1.6 million inmates, and the incarceration rate from 100 per 100,000 to over 500 per 100,000....
Not surprisingly, academics, policymakers, and journalists alike have attempted to ferret out the causes of this carceral explosion. Though explanations differ, almost all analysts agree that a major cause has been the 'War on Drugs.'...
Yet despite its widespread popularity, the argument pinning prison growth to the War on Drugs oversimplifies the connection between the two. This article starts to develop a more sophisticated analysis of how the War on Drugs shapes prison populations, and examines its implications for the options available to legislatures seeking to better manage prison growth. My conclusions run contrary to the conventional wisdom and, when it comes to reform, will not be particularly optimistic: the role of the War on Drugs is greatly exaggerated, and the areas where it matters most are likely the ones over which legislatures have the least control."
Incarceration's Front Door: The Misuse of Jails in America
"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 [America'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 in reducing recidivism, improving public safety, and promoting stronger, healthier communities."
View the Full Report
"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 [America'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 in reducing recidivism, improving public safety, and promoting stronger, healthier communities."
View the Full Report
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