Month: November 2018

Formerly Incarcerated Continue to be Imprisoned by Low Education: Study

Getting Back on Course: Educational exclusion and attainment among formerly incarcerated people

Throughout their lives, people who serve time in prison are held back from educational opportunities, making it nearly impossible to earn the credentials they need to succeed after release. Using data from the National Former Prisoner Survey, this report reveals that formerly incarcerated people are often relegated to the lowest rungs of the educational ladder; more than half hold only a high school diploma or GED, and a quarter hold no credential at all. While incarcerated, and even after release from prison, we find that people rarely get the chance to make up for the educational opportunities from which they’ve been excluded — opportunities that impact their chances of reentry success.

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/education.html

Jail as Injunction

Jail as Injunction

Georgetown Law Journal, Vol. 107, 2019 Wake Forest Univ. Legal Studies Paper

This article discusses the impact that pretrial detention can have on a defendant and their family.  The argument here is that the defendant’s family should be considered when determining bail.

Social Ledger????

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3241408

Half a million people sit in jail every day in America who have not been convicted of a crime but stand merely accused. Detention can cost defendants their jobs, housing, or even custody of their children; detention makes defendants more likely to commit a crime and can harm them mentally and physically; it takes a toll on their families and communities too. Courts simply ignore these serious harms when deciding whether a defendant should lose her liberty because of a mere accusation of wrongdoing. In striking contrast to criminal cases where the government so often succeeds in obtaining before trial the relief that it ultimately seeks—incarceration of the defendant—civil plaintiffs attempting to obtain before judgment the relief that they ultimately seek—by way of a preliminary injunction—face quite a challenge.

Gun Violence – Costs and Thoughts

Three articles that discuss the costs of gun violence to Children, Pre-hospital deaths means an increased violence, and the Annual cost of gun violence.

Gunshot wounds in children account for $270M in medical charges annually

More than 8,300 children and teenagers each year are treated for gunshot wounds in emergency departments across the U.S., study finds

A new Johns Hopkins study of more than 75,000 teenagers and children who suffered a firearm-related injury between 2006 and 2014 points to the financial burden of gunshot wounds and highlights the increasing incidence of injury in certain age groups.

Faiz Gani, a research fellow in the Johns Hopkins Surgery Center for Outcomes Research and one of the report’s authors, published a study last year that examined the annual cost of gun violence in America, finding that emergency room and inpatient charges total approximately $2.8 billion each year. In light of recent school shootings—such as the February 2018 mass shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida where 17 people were killed and 17 more were wounded—Gani and his team of researchers point to an urgent need to understand trends in firearm-related injuries among young people.

Increase in prehospital deaths over the past decade points to intensifying violence

Patients were four times more likely to die from gunshot wounds, nearly nine times more likely to die from stab wounds before getting to a trauma center in 2014, compared to 2007

A new Johns Hopkins Medicine analysis of national trauma data shows that trauma patients were four times more likely to die from gunshot wounds and nearly nine times more likely to die from stab wounds before getting to a trauma center in 2014, compared with rates in 2007.

A report of the findings, published April 3 in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, says that the increase in prehospital mortality suggests violence is intensifying.

The annual cost of gun violence in America—$2.8 billion in emergency room, inpatient charges

Johns Hopkins study of more than 704,000 patients highlights trends in injuries, incidence

A Johns Hopkins study of more than 704,000 people who arrived alive at a United States emergency room for treatment of a firearm-related injury over a nine-year period finds decreasing incidence of such injuries in some age groups, increasing trends in others, and affirmation of the persistently high cost of gunshot wounds in dollars and human suffering.

Among the findings—firearm-related injuries account for approximately $2.8 billion in emergency department and inpatient care each year.

A report on the analysis, published in the October issue of Health Affairs, is designed to highlight updated trends in types of firearm injuries and the kinds of firearms commonly used over time.

https://hub.jhu.edu/2017/10/04/gun-violence-cost-injury-study/

Undue Influence: A Prosecutor’s Role in Parole Proceedings

Prosecutors should “stay home and keep quiet” when individuals they have helped convict appear at parole hearings, according to a research paper published in the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law.

Noting that many states already prohibit prosecutors from testifying in person at discretionary parole hearings—although they can submit written statements—Boston College Law School Professor R. Michael Cassidy argues that similar practices should be extended to all states.

Article:  https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3247326

National Inventory of the Collateral Consequences of Conviction

Here is a new and useful resource that illustrates the types of collateral consequences that follow a person after being convicted of a crime.

What are collateral consequences?

Collateral consequences are legal and regulatory restrictions that limit or prohibit people convicted of crimes from accessing employment, business and occupational licensing, housing, voting, education, and other rights, benefits, and opportunities.

Some collateral consequences serve a legitimate public safety or regulatory function, such as keeping firearms out of the hands of people convicted of violent offenses, prohibiting people convicted of assault or physical abuse from working with children or the elderly, or barring people convicted of fraud from positions of public trust. Others are directly related to a particular crime, such as registration requirements for sex offenders or driver’s license restrictions for people convicted of serious traffic offenses. But some collateral consequences apply without regard to the relationship between the crime and opportunity being restricted, such as the revocation of a business license after conviction of any felony. 

National Inventory of the Collateral Consequences of Conviction
— Read on niccc.csgjusticecenter.org/

The Biased Algorithm: Evidence of Disparate Impact on Hispanics by Melissa Hamilton :: SSRN

This report discusses using algorithmic assessments for predicting recidivism. This is an example of the prediction problem and possible biases in the use of assessments.

Algorithmic risk assessment holds the promise of reducing mass incarceration while remaining conscious of public safety. Yet presumptions of transparent and fai
— Read on papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm

Is There A Cure For Hate? : NPR

This is an interesting article which speaks to some of the issues and problems with rehabilitation and is similar to thoughts on the effectiveness of probation and parole

After the Pittsburgh mass killing, many are wondering how to turn extremists away from violence and hate. But there is very little research, and even less funding, to make that happen.
— Read on www.npr.org/2018/11/06/663773514/is-there-a-cure-for-hate

D.C.’s Aggressive Confiscation Of Illegal Guns Leaves Residents Feeling Targeted : NPR

This is an excellent example of Procedural Justice.

The police department in Washington, D.C., has seized thousands of illegal weapons, but an investigation finds that 4 out of 10 cases of illegal gun possession are dismissed in court.
— Read on www.npr.org/2018/10/24/659980871/d-c-s-aggressive-confiscation-of-illegal-guns-leaves-residents-feeling-targeted