Recently in Corrections Category

Source: Laura J. Hickman, Lois M. Davis, Edward Wells, Mel Eisman, RAND Corporation, June 2010

Active RFID technology has been offered as a tool to track the precise location of inmates and pinpoint staff location in duress situations, rather than just inventory.

Active RFID-tagged devices may also be worn on a belt by correctional officers and staff within the correctional institution. These devices allow near-real-time monitoring of staff location, and some contain an officer-down feature that will generate an alert if a staff member falls to a horizontal position during monitoring. These units also come enabled with a manual alarm function that staff can use to alert a central monitoring station of an immediate need for assistance. In addition to their use for increasing staff safety, tracking of real-time alerts may offer the possibility of more rapid deployment of staff to developing incidents within the facility or otherwise improve the efficiency of population management. Active RFID systems also store inmate and staff location information over time for later playback. This function was designed primarily for use in investigation of incidents that may occur within the institution.

While active RFID technology has been offered as a correctional facility management tool, most of the accessible information about how well it works and its cost-effectiveness has been produced by the vendors, a source with a vested interest in promoting the adoption of their RFID products. Given the significant expense of purchasing and operating the technology, state and local jurisdictions could greatly benefit from an objective assessment of the early lessons learned in a jurisdiction already using RFID technology. The goal of the present report was to collect some of these early lessons learned to inform the corrections field.

Source: Margaret Noonan, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Special Report, NCJ 222988, July 2010

A total of 8,110 inmate deaths in local jails were reported to the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP) from 2000 to 2007 (table 1). The program received data from at least 99% of the roughly 3,000 jail jurisdictions each year. Annually, more than 80% of the nation's jails reported no deaths in their custody. For the 8-year period between 2000-2007, 42% of the jails
nationwide reported no deaths.

Source: Ronald Snell, National Conference of State Legislatures, September 2009

The National Conference of State Legislatures surveyed legislative staff and public pensions
system staff of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in July and August, 2009, on their
provisions for retirement benefits for correctional system employees. Thirty-one responses were
received.

Source: Sarah Livsey, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Fact Sheet, June 2010

One-third of all delinquency cases disposed in 2007 received probation as the most serious disposition Courts with juvenile jurisdiction handled 1.7 million delinquency cases in 2007. Probation supervision was the most severe disposition in 34% (561,600) of all delinquency cases. The number of cases placed on probation grew 34% between 1985 and 2007. During that time, the overall delinquency caseload increased 44%. These findings are based on national data on delinquency cases that juvenile courts processed from 1985 through 2007. The national estimates were generated using information contributed to the National Juvenile Court Data Archive. The analysis is based on data from more than 2,200 jurisdictions containing 81% of the U.S. juvenile population (youth age 10 through the upper age of original juvenile court jurisdiction in each state).

Source: PEW Center on the States, Public Safety Performance Project, April 2010

For the first time in nearly 40 years, the number of state prisoners in the United States has declined. Survey data compiled by the public safety performance project of the PEW Center on the States, in partnership with the Association of State Correctional Administrators, indicate that as of January 1, 2010, there were 1,404,053 persons under the jurisdiction of state prison authorities, 4,777 (0.3 percent) fewer than there were on December 31, 2008. This marks the first year-to-year drop in the state prison population since 1972.

Source: Allen J. Beck, Paige M Harrison, Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 231169, August 26, 2010

From the summary:
Presents data from the National Inmate Survey (NIS), 2008-09, conducted in 167 state and federal prisons, 286 local jails, and 10 special correctional facilities (operated by U.S. Armed Forces, Indian tribes, or the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)) between October 2008 and December 2009, with a sample of 81,566 inmates ages 18 or older. The report provides a listing of facilities ranked according to the prevalence of sexual victimization, as required under the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-79). The prevalence of victimization as reported by inmates during a personal interview is based on sexual activity in the 12 months prior to the interview or since admission to the facility, if less than 12 months. Included are estimates of nonconsensual sexual acts, abusive sexual contacts, inmate-on-inmate and staff sexual misconduct, and level of coercion. The report also presents findings on reported sexual victimization by selected characteristics of inmates, including demographic characteristics, sexual history and orientation, and criminal justice status. It includes details on victims' experiences and the circumstances surrounding incidents of sexual victimization.
See also:
- Press Release
- ASCII file
- Spreadsheet
- Source Data: National Inmate Survey (NIS)

Source: Graeme Wood, Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 305 no. 7, September 2010

Incarceration in America is a failure by almost any measure. But what if the prisons could be turned inside out, with convicts released into society under constant electronic surveillance? Radical though it may seem, early experiments suggest that such a science-fiction scenario might cut crime, reduce costs, and even prove more just.

Source: Justice Policy Institute, June 2010

From the press release:
States should use innovative and evidence-based strategies to trim their prison populations, reduce the likelihood that a released person will return to prison and send fewer people to prison in the first place according to research released today by the Justice Policy Institute (JPI). With many states facing budget crises, important decisions are being made about where money will and will not be spent. JPI found that increasing opportunities for parole and improving parole release decisions, improving parole supervision and ensuring access to support and treatment services are cost-effective means of cutting extraneous spending while maintaining public safety. In FY2008, states spent $52 billion on corrections, money that could be spent on infrastructure, education, housing and job creation, the group says.

Source: Suzanne M. Kirchhoff, Congressional Research Service, R41177, April 13, 2010

The historic, sustained rise in incarceration has broad implications, not just for the criminal justice system, but for the larger economy. About 770,000 people worked in the corrections sector in 2008. The U.S. Labor Department expects the number of guards, supervisors, and other staff to grow by 9% between 2008 and 2018, while the number of probation and parole officers is to increase by 16%. In addition to those working directly in institutions, many more jobs are tied to a multi-billion dollar private industry that constructs, finances, equips, and provides health care, education, food, rehabilitation and other services to prisons and jails. By comparison, in 2008 there were 880,000 workers in the entire U.S. auto manufacturing sector. Private prison companies have bounced back from financial troubles in the late 1990s, buoyed in part by growing federal contracts. Nearly all new U.S. prisons opened from 2000-2005 were private. Private prisons housed 8% of U.S. inmates in 2008, including more than 16% of federal prisoners.

The growth of the corrections sector has other impacts. A number of rural areas have chosen to tie their economies to prisons, viewing the institutions as recession-proof development engines. Though many local officials cite benefits, broader research suggests that prisons may not generate the nature and scale of benefits municipalities anticipate or may even slow growth in some localities. Record incarceration rates can have longer-term economic impacts by contributing to increased income inequality and more concentrated poverty. The problems are exacerbated by the fact that African Americans and Hispanics are far more likely than whites to be incarcerated. The large prison population also may be affecting distribution of federal dollars. The U.S. Census counts individuals where they reside. Some regions may record a significant population increase due to new prisons, meaning they garner more aid under federal population-based formulas.

The corrections sector is in stress as states seek to reduce prison populations and rein in costs. The efforts have been underway for several years, but have intensified as the recession that began at the end of 2007 has wrought havoc on state budgets. At least 26 states cut corrections spending for FY2010. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has suggested amending that state's constitution to ensure that spending on prisons cannot exceed spending on higher education. Arizona is preparing to sell prison facilities to private firms. It remains to be seen whether private companies will prosper from state efforts, or incur losses if inmate populations level out or decline. Congress is involved in the debate via federal contracts with private prisons, proposed legislation to create a task force on the prison system, increased funding to reduce recidivism, a proposed bill to allow collective bargaining for public sector correctional workers, proposals to alter rules for the 2010 Census count, and rural development efforts. Legislation introduced in the 111th Congress includes S. 2772, S. 714, S. 1611, H.R. 4080, H.R. 413, and H.R. 2450. This report will not be updated.

Source: National Conference of State Legislatures, February 9, 2010

Amid the most difficult economic situation since the Great Depression, state legislatures addressed sentencing and corrections policies that better manage correctional populations and budgets. In 2009, states fine-tuned sentencing laws, expanded community-based diversion programs, and created policies and programs aimed at reducing recidivism. California, Delaware, Maryland, Montana, Oregon and Washington increased the monetary thresholds for theft-related crimes, to better align low-level offenses with less severe penalties. States required presentence risk assessments to identify defendants appropriate for community-based sentences. In Illinois and New Hampshire, presentence screening that includes treatment recommendations must be completed for current military or veterans diagnosed with a mental illness.