MULTIMEDIA
At this January 2012 Policy Forum, experts discuss the public health implications of a U.S. Supreme Court order to reduce the prison population by more than 30,000.
COMMENTARY
The state needs to deal with prison overcrowding and inadequate medical care for prisoners in ways that don't simply transfer the burden to county criminal justice systems and the healthcare safety nets of local communities, writes Lois Davis.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
California's prisons, which are operating under receivership for medical care, need help in improving the quality of health care they provide.
REPORT
Federal prosecutors' decisions about whether to seek the death penalty are not racially biased but instead can be very accurately predicted based on the characteristics of the crime, according to an analysis of data from 1995 to 2000.
REPORT
Voter-approved initiatives in Arizona and California have diverted low-level drug offenders from prison and jail. However, many of those imprisoned before the initiatives were approved were more serious criminal offenders than the “low-level” label implies.
REPORT
Measure 11, passed in Oregon in 1994, imposed long mandatory prison terms for designated offenses, prohibited “earned time,” and provided for mandatory waiver of youthful offenders to adult court. This study analyzes the implementation of Measure 11 and its impact on prosecution, sentencing, and convictions. Findings show that Measure 11 has altered sentencing and case processing practices in Oregon, with offenders convicted of…
REPORT
The authors of the current study examine mandatory minimum drug sentences from the viewpoint of cost-effectiveness at achieving such national drug control objectives as reducing cocaine consumption and cocaine-related crime.
REPORT
This report contains the results of RAND's evaluation of the Michigan Department of Social Services' Nokomis Program, an innovative relapse prevention correctional program designed for low- and medium-risk juveniles convicted of a felony offense.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Intensive supervision programs (ISP) have proliferated in the past decade. They generally emphasize reduced caseloads, close surveillance, urinalysis, treatment, and employment.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
The authors used a randomized field experiment to evaluate the impact of efforts at post-arrest case enhancement by a special repeat offender unit of the Phoenix Police Department.