Mass Incarceration Video Last week tonight with John Oliver Prison HBO youtube com What is Mass Incarceration The incarceration of inmates in a correctional policy it represents a decision to use long term confinement of individuals to achieve some goal such as retribution rehabilitation or public safety Mears p 71 Contemporary incarceration is multifaceted o Detention of children in the juvenile justice system state and federal prisons local jails immigration detention centers civil commitment centers for the mentally ill and sex offenders Trends in Prison Populations 2013 About 6 9 million people 2 8 of all U S adults or 1 in every 35 adults were involved with the criminal justice system in some way o Prison jail probation parole or other community supervision o Over 1 5 million persons in state or federal prison About 70 of the persons under correctional supervision were supervised in the community probation or parole while 30 were incarcerated in the nation s prisons or jails o 3 9 million adults on probation o 850 000 on parole or mandatory conditional release following a prison term The size of the criminal justice system Criminal Justice System 31 incarcerated populations and 69 community corrections Incarcerated Populations 32 jails and 68 state and federal prisons Community Corrections 18 parole and 82 probation Comparing Incarceration Rates The policy of mass incarceration varies across regions of the country and across states The overall U S incarceration rate in 2013 was 478 per 100 000 o States with the highest incarceration rates typically are in the south those with the lowest rates are generally in the northeast o Some states such as New York New Jersey and California have implemented incarceration reduction policies and are showing large decreases in the size of their prison populations Comparing Incarceration Rates Internationally 2011 data show that approximately 10 1 million people including juveniles are incarcerated worldwide o In 2009 the U S accounted for approximately 23 2 29 million In 2012 2013 the U S had the highest per capita incarceration rate of the world total 716 2 Incarceration Disparities Matter Race and Ethnicity The incarcerated population in the U S is overwhelmingly male and a racial minority o One in three black males and one in six Hispanic males are expected to spend some time in prison during their lifetimes Changes to the incarceration rate have not been proportionately reflected among racial and ethnic groups o 1926 1940 imprisonment rates increased for African Americans while declining among whites disproportionately higher rates for African Americans prison admission rate were increasing overall but at o mid 1970s Incarceration Disparities Matter Women Men historically have made up the overwhelming majority of prison inmates However the incarceration rate of women are on the rise o Increased six fold from 1980 2013 from 11 to 65 per 100 000 o Rate for men only increased threefold from 275 to 904 per 100 000 Two factors contributing to the increase o The shift from indeterminate to determinate sentencing o The war on drugs Incarceration Disparities Matter Felon Disenfranchisement One consequence of involvement with the criminal justice system is a loss of voting rights felon disenfranchisement o In 48 states a felony conviction can result in the loss of voting rights 3 o The period of disenfranchisement varies by state with some states restoring the vote upon completions of a prison term and others effectively disenfranchisement for life 5 85 million Americans can t vote because felony Crime and Incarceration There are two primary mechanisms through which the crime rate and the incarceration rate may be related o Crime rate o Policy Changes Criminal offending determines the number of people who might be arrested and then serve time in prison Likelihood and duration of incarceration Crime and Incarceration Crime Rates Increases in crime have little to no effect on incarceration rates o In 1971 1991 increases in violent and property crimes were unassociated with increases in incarceration rates among states Greenberg and west 2001 Incarceration is generally inefficient at reducing crime o Reviews of the empirical literature find mixed effects Some studies finding no effect of prison on recidivism some finding that it increases recidivism and other finding that it decreases it Crime and incarceration policy changes Sentencing reforms at the state and local levels have had the largest influence on incarceration rates o Policy has moved primarily towards the development of sentencing guideline and determinant sentencing policies 4 Policy reforms over time o mid 1970s to mid 1980s reforms aimed to make sentencing procedures fairer and outcome more predictable and consistent primarily at making sentences for drug and violent crimes harsher and their imposition more certain changes in sentencing policy were aimed o Mid 1980s to 1996 Mandatory minimum sentences three strikes laws truth in sentencing laws and laws mandating life without possibility of parole for certain offenses 5