Overcriminalization significantly undermines human flourishing and social well-being by harming the family, social networks, and social citizenship. Additionally, it prevents capable men and women from utilizing their creative capacities in the marketplace. This creates vast issues involving relations with family while incarcerated and reintegration into society after release. On the economic side, draconian cash bail systems undermine justice through basing someone's ability to attain pre-trial release upon their wealth, not their actual threat to society.
“‘In this undergraduate course, we will examine incarceration in the United States with a public health lens by examining ways in which public health researchers and practitioners can effectively respond to health-related issues associated with incarceration,’ says Sarahmona Przybyla, assistant professor and interim director of undergraduate public health programs in SPHHP.“
University of Buffalo
January 18, 2019
Read More“‘Instead of reporting in a way that exposes the tragedy of prison violence, we get headlines like, ‘Convicted rapist stabbed to death,’ he explains. ‘The media presents the victim as if he could only be the crime he was convicted of. It happens all the time, over and over again’.“
Columbia Journalism Review
January 22, 2019
Read More“The new slate of Democratic judges have approved comprehensive revisions to Harris County’s bail system that could clear the way for thousands of people, regardless of income, to avoid spending time in jail while awaiting trial on minor offenses. The county judges plan to present their new court protocol to a federal judge, in a joint request with the sheriff, the county and poor defendants, in a historic class action over bail practices, asking that she implement the revised system as a foundation for a settlement.“
Houston Chronicle
January 18, 2019
Read More“Lifting the ban on Pell Grant funding could help nearly 500,000 incarcerated people, including nearly 11,000 Georgians, according to the study by the Vera Institute of Justice and the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality. The ban on grants to prisoners was part of the 1994 crime bill.“
Atlanta Journal Constitution
January 17, 2019
Read More“Bail groups fought the legislation since it was first proposed three years ago, saying it would result in the release of violent offenders to the streets and decimate a $2-billion national industry, including 3,200 bail agents registered in the state. A day after Brown signed the law, a national coalition of bail agency groups launched its referendum drive, raising about $3 million and collecting more than enough signatures to qualify the measure in just two months.“
LA Times
January 16, 2019
Read More“‘We really see this as a bill that’s going to help a lot of people become employed and hopefully lift people out of poverty,’ she said. ‘It’s a huge piece of the puzzle to help people access opportunities’ by opening doors for people who would otherwise be denied for employment, housing and government loans because of a criminal record, which is readily available online.“
Generocity
January 14, 2019
Read More“Abolishing bail, however, raises the question of whether additional measures to detain criminal defendants will be needed. In a news conference last week, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the criminal justice system needs not only “reform” but also “tightening up,” particularly through allowing judges to consider a defendant’s level of “dangerousness” before granting bail.“
New York Times
January 11, 2019
Read More“Most FTAs are the result of forgetfulness or circumstances beyond a defendant’s control, according to Atara Rich-Shea, director of operations at the Massachusetts Bail Fund. They might need child care, or they are just confused by the court system. A court appearance might take place months after a ticket—long forgotten—was issued.“
The Appeal
January 9, 2019
Read More“The jailing of poor defendants who cannot pay fines — a particularly insidious version of this revenue machine — has been ruled unconstitutional since a trio of Supreme Court cases spanning the 1970s and early 1980s. The first, Williams v. Illinois, involved a petty thief who was forced to remain in prison to pay off a fine, even after he had served his term. The second, Tate v. Short, hinged on a man in Texas named Preston Tate, who was assessed $425 in fines for several traffic violations.“
New York Times
January 8, 2019
Read More“Shaffer spoke to the Appeal from the Tulsa County jail, but she was transferred soon after to a state prison to serve out her 18-month sentence. Her crime? Permitting child abuse. Oklahoma, like many states, has a “failure to protect” law that allows the prosecution of a caregiver who ‘knows or reasonably should know that the child will be placed at risk of abuse’.“
The Appeal
December 18, 2018
Read More“We know crime stories are among the most popular content we can give our readers on our website and on social media. We have tools that allow us to see what stories readers are clicking on, and a high-profile crime story almost always shoots right to the top. And, for us, more clicks leads to more advertising revenue and more exposure for the Sun Herald. But what is good for us may not be what is good for South Mississippi. We need to re-evaluate.“
The Mississippi Sun Herald
December 17, 2018
Read More“The results are in, according to a study from Justice Policy Institute (JPI), a Washington-based nonprofit. The Ungers, as they’re called, have clocked a recidivism rate of just 3 percent. Researchers have found that on average, two-thirds of the state prisoners in the United States are arrested again within three years of release; about half are reincarcerated. JPI estimates the state’s averted costs at close to $1 million per individual released.“
Philadelphia Inquirer
December 12, 2018
Read More“In the two weeks after their release, recently incarcerated people are almost 42 times more likely to die from an overdose than the general population. With such an apparent risk and dire consequences, states need to prioritize the widespread adoption of proven strategies to lower the risk of opioid overdoses among formerly incarcerated people. “
Prison Policy Initiative
December 7, 2018
Read More“Of the roughly 500 women now in city jails, many have significant unmet needs such as homelessness and substance use disorder. On average, women have fewer financial resources, which can result in an inability to pay bail. And because most jailed women are mothers, their incarceration can have sweeping consequences for families. “
The Appeal
December 6, 2018
Read More“Break their shackles and let us hand them a hammer.. That is the message the National Association of Homebuilders, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent Congress in a letter urging their support of prison reform. The sooner the Senate sends the so-called FIRST STEP Act to President Trump, the sooner they promise to start hiring.“
The Washington Examiner
December 5, 2018
Read More“Preparing inmates for employment is a priority of many states because it helps reduce recidivism, a particularly tough problem in Minnesota, which has one of the highest rates in the country. Solar could be a small part of an answer to the problem of finding employment for the formerly incarcerated, Stadheim said.“
Energy News
December 3, 2018
Read More“In about 1 in 8 of these cases, incarcerated parents lose their parental rights, regardless of the seriousness of their offenses, according to the analysis of records maintained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services between 2006 and 2016. That rate has held steady over time. Female prisoners, whose children are five times more likely than those of male inmates to end up in foster care, have their rights taken away most often.“
The Marshall Project
December 2, 2018
Read More“Someone’s ability to succeed (in rehabilitation) depends on what family circumstances they come back into. Another point we are trying to make is that when people come out of prison, most of them really do want to make a change in their lives. We really need to be supporting them to make that change, because if you do start to struggle and you don’t have any other options, you’re going to go back to what you did before. We were missing a big opportunity … not helping them with housing and employment and health services and to transition back into society.“
The Daily Californian
November 30, 2018
Read More“Extreme sentencing has been justified in the name of public safety, but the evidence demonstrates it is a failed policy. Even crime victims have said long sentences don’t serve their needs, and that money could be better spent on crime prevention and victims services. Keeping someone locked up when they are elderly and infirm, in a wheelchair or on oxygen, until they die alone and far away from loved ones, doesn’t create a safe and healthy society.“
The Hill
November 24, 2018
Read More“‘I wish for once we would not put that on the individual,’ Clark said. ‘We need a second chance as a society to make things right. We’re all in this together. We all created this. If you put it on the individual, then you’re saying one out of three black males was born a criminal? What did we do to create this? And what do we have to do to unwind this’?“
New Haven Independent
November 23, 2018
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