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Reallocating Justice Resources: A Review of 2011 State Sentencing Trends
Reallocating Justice Resources: A Review of 2011 State Sentencing Trends (PDF)
Source: Vera Institute of Justice
Most states are facing budget crises, and criminal justice agencies are not exempt. With fewer dollars available, they are challenged to increase public safety while coping with smaller budgets. This report distills lessons from 14 states that passed research-driven sentencing and corrections reform in 2011 and is based on interviews with stakeholders and experts, and the experience of technical assistance staff at the Vera Institute of Justice. It is intended to serve as a guide to policy makers and others interested in pursuing evidence-based justice reform in their jurisdiction.
Legislatures throughout the United States enacted sentencing and corrections policy changes in 2011 that were based on data analysis of their prison populations and the growing body of research on practices that can reduce recidivism. Although this emphasis on using evidence to inform practice is not new in criminal justice, legislators are increasingly relying on this science to guide the use of taxpayer dollars more effectively to improve public safety outcomes.
In highlighting important legislative changes enacted in the past year, this report documents a new approach to reform in which bipartisan, multidisciplinary policy groups are using analysis of state population and sentencing data, harnessing the political will emerging from the budget crisis, relying on decades of criminal justice research, and reaching out to key constituencies. The result is legislation that aims to make more targeted use of incarceration and to reinvest the cost savings into community programs geared toward reducing recidivism and victimization.
See also: State of Sentencing 2011: Developments in Policy and Practice (PDF)
The Price of Prisons: What Incarceration Costs Taxpayers
The Price of Prisons: What Incarceration Costs Taxpayers (PDF)
Source: Vera Institute of Justice
Vera researchers found that the total taxpayer cost of prisons in the 40 states that participated in this study was 13.9 percent higher than the cost reflected in those states’ combined corrections budgets. The total price to taxpayers was $39 billion, $5.4 billion more than the $33.6 billion reflected in corrections budgets alone. The greatest cost drivers outside corrections departments were as follows:
- underfunded contributions to retiree health care for corrections employees ($1.9 billion);
- states’ contributions to retiree health care on behalf of their corrections departments ($837 million);
- employee benefits, such as health insurance ($613 million);
- states’ contributions to pensions on behalf of their corrections departments ($598 million);
- capital costs ($485 million); > hospital and other health care for the prison population ($335 million); and
- underfunded pension contributions for corrections employees ($304 million).
Reallocating Justice Resources: A Review of State 2011 Sentencing Trends
Reallocating Justice Resources: A Review of State 2011 Sentencing Trends
Source: Vera Institute of Justice
Most states are facing budget crises as they plan FY 2013 and beyond. With fewer dollars available, state criminal justice agencies are challenged to increase public safety while coping with smaller budgets. This report distills lessons from 14 states that passed research-driven sentencing and corrections reform in 2011 and is based on interviews with stakeholders and experts, and the experience of technical assistance staff at the Vera Institute of Justice. It is intended to serve as a guide to policy makers and others interested in pursuing evidence-based justice reform in their jurisdiction.
+ Full Report (PDF)
Why Ask About Family? A Guide for Corrections
Why Ask About Family? A Guide for Corrections (PDF)
Source: Vera Institute of Justice
Working in corrections can be rewarding. But it is also extremely challenging. The daily demands don’t always leave room to think about the families of people who are in jail or prison. Yet families and other social supports can help individuals succeed while they are incarcerated and afterward, leading to better outcomes for the facility and greater public safety.
Corrections professionals can help—without starting new programs or taking on additional tasks—just by adopting a few simple concepts, tools, and techniques.
This guide describes the principles of a strength-based, family-focused approach in corrections practices, policy, and reentry planning that can make a difference. It was developed for correctional administrators, case managers, reentry and discharge planners, treatment-team members, institutional parole officers, and other personnel working in and around jails, prisons, and other corrections institutions.
It’s About Time: Aging Prisoners, Increasing Costs, and Geriatric Release
It’s About Time: Aging Prisoners, Increasing Costs, and Geriatric Release (PDF)
Source: Vera Institute of Justice
As harsher policies have led to longer prison sentences, often with a limited possibility of parole, correctional facilities throughout the United States are home to a growing number of elderly adults. Because this population has extensive and costly medical needs, states are confronting the complex, expensive repercussions of their sentencing practices. To reduce the costs of caring for aging inmates–or to avert future costs–legislators and policymakers have been increasingly willing to consider early release for those older prisoners who are seen as posing a relatively low risk to public safety. This report is based upon a statutory review of geriatric release provisions, including some medical release practices that specifically refer to elderly inmates. The review was supplemented by interviews and examination of data in publicly available documents.
At the end of 2009, 15 states and the District of Columbia had provi- sions for geriatric release. However, the jurisdictions are rarely using these provisions. Four factors help explain the difference between the stated intent and the actual impact of geriatric release laws: political considerations and public opinion; narrow eligibility criteria; proce- dures that discourage inmates from applying for release; and compli- cated and lengthy referral and review processes.
This report offers recommendations for responding to the disparities between geriatric release policies and practice…
