Last month the Department of Justice announced a 1.7 percent decline in the estimated US prison population from 2011 to 2012, marking the third consecutive year of slight decreases. There were 1,571,013 inmates in federal and state prisons at the end of last year, which is not too far off the all-time high of 1,615,487
Mass. House votes to curb practice of trying 17-year-olds as adults
The state House of Representatives voted unanimously last week to largely end the practice of trying 17-year-olds in adult criminal court, prompted in part by a federal law requiring younger inmates to be housed separately from adult prisoners so they are at less risk of sexual assault. Bill H1432 would bring Massachusetts in line with
“Reinvestment” part of Justice Reinvestment Initiative being weakened, warns ACLU report
The Justice Reinvestment Initiative, a strategy to reduce corrections spending while lowering recidivism rates, is at risk of being watered down and even co-opted by the same forces that led to costly “tough on crime” policies, according to a report published this month by the American Civil Liberties Union. Ending Mass Incarceration: Charting a New
Reentry programs need coordination, more carrots and sticks, says DOJ-sponsored report
Reentry programs can be an effective strategy against recidivism, but not enough prisoners are released into such programs, according to a recent report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. MassINC also called for stronger reentry programs in a report released last month, “Crime, Cost, and Consequences: Is it
Crime, Cost, and Consequences
Is it Time to Get Smart on Crime?
As the title suggests, the report calls into question Massachusetts’s current approach to corrections, which favors long prison stays at the expense of treatment, reentry programming, and post-release supervision. Without a change in course, the report concludes that Massachusetts will spend more than $2 billion over the next decade on corrections policies and practices that
From Cell to Street
A Plan to Supervise Inmates After Release
This report begins and ends with a concern for the public safety of hardworking, law-abiding citizens of the Commonwealth. Our citizens deserve safe neighborhoods where their children can play on the streets, businesses can thrive, the elderly can walk without fear, and neighbors can congregate at night on their front porches. In recent years, much
Prisons and Sentencing in Massachusetts
Waging a More Effective Fight Against Crime
Does Massachusetts need more prison space to keep crime in check and improve public safety? Who’s in prison now? Are we filling our prisons with the right people? The answers contained in this investigative report on our corrections system may surprise you. For instance, contrary to popular perception an inflow of low-level drug offenders is
Criminal Justice in Massachusetts
The Public's View
MassINC’s report Criminal Justice in Massachusetts: Putting Crime Control First, posed a simple question: “What policies would reduce crime?” For answers, we turned to nationally recognized crime policy expert Mark Kleiman of UCLA (formerly of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government) and his colleagues at BOTEC Analysis Corporation. The report offered a comprehensive
Criminal Justice in Massachusetts
Putting Crime Control First
In Massachusetts, as across the country, crime is at the top of the public agenda. Yet crime control — how to actually reduce the current and future number of crimes and criminals — does not receive the level of serious policy attention it deserves. Opportunities to reduce crime are systematically neglected, as policy making is