The Prison Paradox: More Incarceration Will Not Make Us Safer

Despite its widespread use, research shows that the effect of incarceration as a deterrent to crime is minimal at best, and has been diminishing for several years. Indeed, increased rates of incarceration have no demonstrated effect on violent crime and in some instances may increase crime. There are more effective ways to respond to crime—evidenced by the 19 states that recently reduced both their incarceration and crime rates. This brief summarizes the weak relationship between incarceration and crime reduction, and highlights proven strategies for improving public safety that are more effective and less expensive than incarceration

The Anatomy of Discretion: An Analysis of Prosecutorial Decision Making

Prosecuting attorneys enjoy exceptionally broad discretion in making decisions that influence criminal case outcomes. They make pivotal decisions throughout the life of a case with little public or judicial scrutiny. With support from the National Institute of Justice, the Vera Institute of Justice undertook research to better understand how prosecutors make decisions. Vera researchers combined statistical analyses with qualitative analyses, examining initial case screening and charging decisions, plea offers, sentence recommendations, and post-filing dismissals for multiple offense types in two moderately large prosecutors' offices. In addition to a technical report, the study produced a summary report and four podcasts

Reconsidering Incarceration: New Directions for Reducing Crime

Little empirical study had been done to confirm or refute the effectiveness of incarceration in reducing crime rates when America began its historic reliance on prisons in the 1970s. Today, conversely, policymakers are faced with a large, complex, and sometimes contradictory body of research. This paper seeks to help officials make sense of this information and offers an up-to-date understanding of what works best. It also examines research on several of the other factors that might be developed as part of an expanded notion of public safety. Informed by this more inclusive understanding of current research, it suggests that effective public safety strategies should move away from an exclusive focus on incarceration to embrace other factors associated with low crime rates in a more comprehensive policy framework for safeguarding citizens

An Examination of Felony Case Processing in the Circuit Court of Cook County, 2000-2012

This research bulletin provides an examination of felony cases filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County between 2000 and 2012. The examination considers trends in the volume of felony cases filed, the percent of cases disposed of within twelve months of filing, and the average length of time to dispose of cases. The analyses indicate that the number of felony cases filed in Cook County has decreased over the last decade and the percentage of felony cases disposed of within 12 months of filing has increased during the same period. However, the time to case disposition has increased -- for felony cases closed within 12 months in 2009, it took roughly 117 days to close the case; for felony cases closed within 12 months in 2012, it took roughly 143 days to close the case -- 26 days longer

Beyond the War: The Evolving Nature of the U.S. Approach to Drugs

Over the last forty years, perhaps no issue has affected the United States’s criminal justice system as profoundly as has drug policy. Since President Nixon declared drug abuse “America’s public enemy number one,”1 concerns about the manufacture, distribution, and possession of drugs have remained at the fore of criminal justice policy discussions.2 President Reagan’s subsequent pronouncement of drugs as “an especially vicious virus of crime” set a course for national drug policy that emphasized enforcement and punishment over treatment to “win the war on drugs.”3 Throughout the 1980s, increasing public concern about the effects of drug abuse4 further pressured policymakers at the state and federal levels to adopt new mandatory sentences and sentence enhancements that increased the probability and length of prison sentences

Philadelphia's Less Crowded, Less Costly Jails: Taking Stock of a Year of Change and the Challenges That Remain

Examines factors behind the 2009-10 decrease in Philadelphia's jail population; strategies for managing pretrial, sentenced, and probation or parole violator populations; and policies for further streamlining court processes and reducing jail populations