Recently in Corrections Category

Source: Renee Montagne, Morning Edition, August 14, 2008

The largest mental institution in the country is actually a wing of a county jail. Known as Twin Towers, because of the design, the facility houses 1,400 mentally ill patients in one of its two identical hulking structures in downtown Los Angeles.

Source: Allen J. Beck, Devon B. Adams, Paul Guerino, Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 215337, July 2008

From the summary:
Presents data from the 2005 and 2006 Survey on Sexual Violence, an administrative records collection of incidents required under the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-79) of youth-on-youth and staff-on-youth sexual violence reported to juvenile correctional authorities. The report provides counts of sexual violence, by type, for juvenile correctional facilities. The report also provides an in-depth analysis of substantiated incidents, including where the incidents occur, time of day, number and characteristics of victims and perpetrators, nature of the injuries, impact on the victims and sanctions imposed on the perpetrators. The appendix tables include counts of sexual violence, by type, for all state systems, and all sampled locally or privately operated facilities.
Highlights include the following:
• Approximately 1 in 5 of reported allegations of juvenile sexual violence were substantiated.
• Youth-on-youth incidents were more likely to occur in the victim's room (37%) or in a common area (32%), compared to staff-on-youth incidents (7% and 13%, respectively).
• Victims received physical injuries in 12% of substantiated incidents of youth-on-youth sexual violence; about half received some form of medical follow-up.

Source: Matthew Gever, State Health Notes, Volume 29, Issue 521, August 4, 2008

Cash-strapped states are reeling: the number of inmates in U.S. jails or prisons has reached a new high--230 million, or more than one in every 100 adults, according to a new report by the PEW Center on the States. In some states, corrections consumes more of the budget than Medicaid or education.

The increase is driven by a number of factors, including policies like "three strikes" and added jail time for sometimes minor parole violations. But the rise also is driven by high rates of recidivism among people convicted of substance abuse-related crimes such as driving while under the influence.

Source: Hazards News, August 2, 2008

US federal health officials have found staff and inmates had no protection against exposure to high levels of lead and cadmium in a prison industry computer recycling plant. The amount of health damage or risk could not be assessed because the Elkton Federal Correctional Institution in eastern Ohio did not conduct medical monitoring or industrial hygiene surveillance.
• Full NIOSH report
• AFGE statement
• Risks 367

Source: William J. Sabol and Todd D. Minton, Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 221945, June 2008

From the summary:
Presents data on numbers of jails and jail inmates at midyear 2007 and analyzes patterns of growth from 2000 through 2007. This report includes data on rated capacity of jails, percent of capacity occupied, and capacity added. It provides estimates of admissions to jails and details the volume of movement among the jail population. This Bulletin includes total numbers for jail inmates by gender, race, and Hispanic origin as well as counts of jail inmates by conviction and confinement status. Standard errors for jail estimates are only provided in the appendix tables of the electronic version of this report.
See also:
Sexual Victimization in Local Jails Reported by Inmates, 2007
Source: Allen J. Beck and Paige M. Harrison, Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 221946, June 2008

Source: William J. Sabol and Heather Couture, Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 221944, June 2008

From the summary:
Presents data on prisoners under jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities on June 30, 2007, collected from the National Prisoner Statistics series. This annual report describes changes in the prison population during the first six months of 2007, compared to changes from yearend 2000 through yearend 2006. It details the incarceration rates for prisoners sentenced to more than 1 year by jurisdiction, the number of incarcerated males and females, and the number of prisoners admitted into and released from federal and state jurisdiction. The bulletin also presents data on the total number of inmates held in custody in prisons or jails on June 30, 2007. It provides estimates of the custody population by gender, race, and age. The custody incarceration rates for these groups are also included. Counts of the number of non-citizens and individuals under age 18 held in custody are included.

Source: Mother Jones, Vol. 33 no. 4, July/August 2008
(subscription required)

The current issue of Mother Jones features many stories focusing on the prison system. Stories include:
• Slammed - Inside America's broken - and broke - prison system
• Welcome to the Age of Incarceration
• California's Convict Crisis
• A Guard's Change of Heart
• The Booming Immigrant Detention Industry
• Probation for Profit
• Kids Doing Time for Tantrums
• Prison Problems? Not in Kansas anymore

Source: Human Rights Watch, May 2008

The sentencing of juveniles to life without parole (JLWOP), effectively to die in prison, is examined. This report has sections that cover: new findings in 2008; a nationwide problem; harsh sentencing practices; crimes that can lead to JLWOP; sentencing disparity; life in prison; JLWOP and international human rights -- there are 2,484 youth serving LWOP in the world, all in the U.S.; fair sentences for youth; and recommendations.
See also:
The Rest of Their Lives (2005)

Source: William J. Sabol and Todd D. Minton, Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin, NCJ 221945, June 2008

On June 29, 2007, the number of inmates held in local jails reached 780,581, an increase of 1.9% (or 14,571 inmates) since June 30, 2006 (figure 1). Between 2000 and 2007 the percent number of inmates confined in the nation's jails increased change at an average annual rate of 3.3%. With the exception of 2005, the rate of growth in the jail inmate population has declined every year since 2002. Growth slowed from 2.5% in 2006 to 1.9% in 2007. The rate of growth in the 12 months ending June 29, 2007 was the smallest annual growth rate in the jail population since 2001 and the second smallest since 1981.
See also:
Prison Inmates at Midyear 2007
Probation and Parole in the United States, 2006

Source: American University, WCL Research Paper (via SSRN)

From the abstract:
The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA) is the first piece of federal legislation, which expressly and exclusively addresses sexual abuse of persons in custody. Notwithstanding passage of the Act, there is clear belief, echoed by correctional leaders, that prosecutors are reluctant at best, and unwilling at worst, to prosecute cases of sexual violence in correctional settings. In order to gather information on prosecutor interest in and capacity to prosecute these cases, the National Institute of Corrections Project on Addressing Prison Rape at the Washington College of Law the (the NIC/WCL Project) collected data from state and federal prosecutors.

This article draws on that research and data to examine the perception that prosecutors are unwilling to prosecute cases of sexual violence in custody, discusses barriers to prosecution identified by prosecutors regarding investigating and prosecuting allegations of sexual abuse of persons under correctional supervision, and recommends tools to overcome those barriers.