One of the most confounding recent trends in the criminal justice system is the disproportional increase in incarceration in rural areas. The main motivating factors of this trend have yet to be uncovered in their totality. This page seeks to explore the potential driving forces behind this pattern, along with highlighting the rural counties which are fighting this concerning, recent trend.
“While it is well known that public defenders’ caseloads are untenably high in jurisdictions nationwide, prompting lawsuits, the situation is particularly dire in largely rural states such as Louisiana. These so-called legal deserts may have only one or two defense attorneys, who are usually near retirement with no one to take their place.“
The Atlantic
July 18, 2019
Read More"Between 2000 and 2017, the Rhode Island General Assembly created more than 170 new crimes and enhanced penalties that expand the number of felonies. This represents a continuation of a retrograde “tough on crime” mentality. The fact is that while Rhode Island brags about leading the way to lowering the prison population, the state uses probation as a mechanism to surveil, stigmatize, and marginalize whole communities."
Providence Journal
August 24, 2018
Read More"In 1993, about half the nation’s overall jail population consisted of pretrial detainees; today, they represent 66 percent of jail inmates. Pretrial detention is even more lopsided in Texas. According to the report, nearly 74 percent of jail inmates statewide haven’t been convicted of a crime."
Texas Observer
July 25, 2018
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