Infectious disease surveillance in U.S. jails: Findings from a national survey

While infectious diseases (ID) are a well-documented public health issue in carceral settings, research on ID screening and treatment in jails is lacking. A survey was sent to 1,126 jails in the United States to identify the prevalence of health screenings at intake and characteristics of care for ID; 371 surveys were completed correctly and analyzed. Despite conflicting Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance, only seven percent of surveyed jails test individuals for HIV at admission. In 46% of jails, non-healthcare personnel perform ID screenings. Jails in less urban areas were more likely to report healthcare screenings performed by correctional officers. Survey findings indicate that HIV, HCV and TB testing during jail admissions and access to PrEP are severely lacking in less urban jails in particular. Recommendations are provided to improve ID surveillance and address the burden of ID in correctional facilities

"Nickel and Dimed" for Drug Crime: Unpacking the Process of Cumulative Racial Inequality

We apply a cumulative disadvantage framework to examine racial inequality in the criminal justice system for drug defendants. Using State Court Processing Statistics data for the period 1990-2006 (N = 34,814), we estimate probit, multinomial probit, and OLS models to examine racial disparities in pretrial detention, adjudication, sentence type, and sentence length. We find that disparities in sentencing are not considerably large, particularly in sentence length. Larger disparities occur earlier in the process, in more discretionary stages, and through indirect pathways. In a criminal justice system that "nickel and dimes" racial inequality, examining this inequality should occur through multiple stages in the court process, rather than at a single stage

Spatial Dimensions of Racial Inequality Neighborhood Racial Characteristics and Drug Sentencing

While scholars have noted that The War on Drugs has disproportionately impacted Black and Latino communities, we have little understanding as to how spatial patterns of prosecution and sentencing drive these inequalities. This article explores the geography of race in drug prosecutions by examining the role of neighborhood racial/ethnic and other demographic characteristics on sentencing outcomes for drug defendants in Sacramento, CA. We examine both the rate and length of sentences by block group. Specifically, we first estimate models for the number of prison, jail, and probation or fine sentences as rates per population and as rates per filing. We find that felony drug defendants in Black neighborhoods are penalized after filing through an increased rate of prison sentences per filing, although they do indicate a higher but not statistically significant rate of sentences per population as well. On the other hand, initial patterns of filing primarily drive sentencing in Latino neighborhoods. While the rate of prison and probation sentences differs based on the racial and ethnic neighborhood composition, it largely does not impact sentence length.</jats:p

Cumulative racial inequality of drug defendants

Past research has demonstrated that those arrested for drug crimes is not representative of drug use, suggesting that drug policy and enforcement is highly racialized and unequal. We know much less about where and how racial inequality is reproduced within the criminal justice system, however. Focusing on racial inequality as both a total effect and as a process, I examine where and how racial inequality is cumulatively produced in the criminal justice system for drug defendants. Using data from state and federal courts, I examine this question through three primary analyses. First, I develop a measure of cumulative racial inequality for the court process and for sentencing outcomes to better understand the total effects of inequality. I also analyze the mechanisms of cumulative racial inequality in the state and federal court systems by examining disparities in court processing and outcome decisions while accounting for the effects of previous stages in later stages of the court process. Finally, I focus on a single city to examine how cumulative racial inequality operates in drug arrest patterns, court processes, and alternative to incarceration programs.I find that racial inequality may be difficult to detect by only examining outcomes at single stages of the process because disparities are often small at any individual stage, and because they occur mostly at early, less visible stages of the criminal justice process. Proactive policing drives much of the initial racial inequality through the use of geographically targeted arrests that focuses on nonwhite neighborhoods. Even before sentencing outcomes, the court process acts as a stratification mechanism in itself, where many mechanisms of inequality, including bail and pretrial detention decisions, occur in pre-sentencing stages. They also occur indirectly through factors such as criminal history which in itself is partially a function of previous criminal justice system contact

Cumulative racial inequality of drug defendants

Past research has demonstrated that those arrested for drug crimes is not representative of drug use, suggesting that drug policy and enforcement is highly racialized and unequal. We know much less about where and how racial inequality is reproduced within the criminal justice system, however. Focusing on racial inequality as both a total effect and as a process, I examine where and how racial inequality is cumulatively produced in the criminal justice system for drug defendants. Using data from state and federal courts, I examine this question through three primary analyses. First, I develop a measure of cumulative racial inequality for the court process and for sentencing outcomes to better understand the total effects of inequality. I also analyze the mechanisms of cumulative racial inequality in the state and federal court systems by examining disparities in court processing and outcome decisions while accounting for the effects of previous stages in later stages of the court process. Finally, I focus on a single city to examine how cumulative racial inequality operates in drug arrest patterns, court processes, and alternative to incarceration programs.I find that racial inequality may be difficult to detect by only examining outcomes at single stages of the process because disparities are often small at any individual stage, and because they occur mostly at early, less visible stages of the criminal justice process. Proactive policing drives much of the initial racial inequality through the use of geographically targeted arrests that focuses on nonwhite neighborhoods. Even before sentencing outcomes, the court process acts as a stratification mechanism in itself, where many mechanisms of inequality, including bail and pretrial detention decisions, occur in pre-sentencing stages. They also occur indirectly through factors such as criminal history which in itself is partially a function of previous criminal justice system contact

Racial Threat, Social (Dis)organization, and the Ecology of Police: Towards a Macro-level Understanding of Police Use-of-force in Communities of Color

In this paper, we examine use-of-force incidents as neighborhood processes to understand how rates and levels of use-of-force vary across New York City. We suggest that there are two distinct outcomes of force by the police: number of use-of-force incidents and level of force. Applying theories of racial threat, social disorganization, and Klinger's ecological theory of policing, we conceptualize use-of-force as a neighborhood phenomenon rather than individual events. Our results suggest that rates and levels of force operate in some distinct ways. In particular, while we find that use-of-force is concentrated in Black neighborhoods, and is also more severe in Black neighborhoods, neighborhoods with higher racial and ethnic heterogeneity have decreasing force incidents, but with increasing severity. This may reflect different types of policing, with high rates of low-level police harassment occurring in primarily poorer, Black neighborhoods, and more isolated but severe incidents occurring in middle-income and wealthier mixed neighborhoods

Institutionalizing inequality in the courts: Decomposing racial and ethnic disparities in detention, conviction, and sentencing

A significant body of literature has examined racial and ethnic inequalities in sentencing, focusing on how individual court actors make decisions, but fewer scholars have examined whether disparities are institutionalized through legal case factors. After finding racial and ethnic inequalities in pretrial detention, conviction, and incarceration based on 4 years of felony court data (N = 83,924) from Miami‐Dade County, we estimate nonlinear decomposition models to examine how much of the inequalities are explained by differences in criminal history, charging, and for conviction and incarceration, pretrial detention. Results suggest that inequality is greatest between White non‐Latinos and Black Latinos, followed by White non‐Latinos and Black non‐Latinos, ranging from 4 to more than 8 percentage points difference in the probability of pretrial detention, 7–13 points difference in conviction, 5–6 points in prison, and 4–10 points difference in jail. We find few differences between White non‐Latinos and White Latinos. Between half and three‐quarters of the inequality in pretrial detention, conviction, and prison sentences between White non‐Latino and Black people is explained through legal case factors. Our findings indicate that inequality is, in part, institutionalized through legal case factors, suggesting these factors are not “race neutral” but instead racialized and contribute to inequalities in court outcomes

Homegrown foreigners: how Christian nationalism and nativist attitudes impact Muslim civil liberties

Building from the literature on racialization of Muslims, we argue that there are two unique dimensions to anti-Muslim attitudes: Christian nationalism and nativism. Christian nationalism subscribes to the idea of Christianity as being central to American identity, and nativism provides insight into the monopolies regulating citizenship. We then test this framework's hypotheses on data drawn from the General Social Survey in 2014 to see if these two dimensions predict support for civil rights infringements of Muslim-Americans compared to other outgroups, including atheists, communists, and racists. The results indicate both Christian nationalism and nativism have significant and negative effects on Muslim civil liberties. We also find some differences between the effects of Christian nationalism and nativism on Muslim civil liberties compared to the other outgroups. We interpret these results as an indication that nativism works as an ordering principle to reconstitute who counts as American and who does not

Normalising Desistance: Contextualising Marijuana and Cocaine use Careers in Young Adults

Although there is a vast literature on drug use and addiction, there is little work that addresses the long-term use of drugs within the general population. We take a more contextual look in examining longitudinal drug use patterns over the course of 14 years for a representative sample of young adults in their late teens and early twenties in the United States using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). We use a growth trajectory modelling approach for cocaine and marijuana users to determine general use careers. Using contextual and life-course variables, we then estimate a multinomial logistic regression model to predict group membership. In addition to establishing general use career groups, we ask how well mainstream theories comport with our findings and how the different chemical makeup of cocaine and marijuana influence our findings. We find four general use career groups: (i) high use/late desistance; (ii) peaked use/strong desistance; (iii) low use; and (iv) stable use/gradual desistance. Our results suggest similar careers for users of both drugs, with desistance over time as the rule for all groups. We also find some support for life-course and contextual factors in drug using patterns, but our findings challenge other psychological and criminological theories

The Dark Footprint of State Violence: A Synthetic Approach to the American Crime Decline

This project combines the conversation on the national crime rate with emerging discussions on the violence that the state perpetrates against civilians. To measure US lethal violence holistically, we reconceptualize the traditional definitional boundaries of violence to erase arbitrary distinctions between state- and civilian-caused crime and violence. Discussions of the “crime decline” focus specifically on civilian crime, positioning civilians as the sole danger to the health, wealth, and safety of individuals. Violence committed by the state—from police homicide to deaths in custody to in-prison sexual assault—is not found in the traditionally reported crime rate. These absences belie real dangers posed to individuals which are historical and contemporary, nonnegligible, and possibly rising. We present Uniform Crime Report data side-by-side with data on police killings, deaths in custody, and executions from sources such as Fatal Encounters, the Washington Post, the Guardian, and the Center for Disease Control to produce a robust discussion of deaths produced through the criminal legal system. We ground this empirical analysis in a broader conceptual framework that situates state violence squarely within the realm of US crime, and explore the implications of this more holistic view of crime for future analyses