This week I have seen a number of important and thoughtful commentaries about important aspects of the back-end of modern criminal justice systems. Here are two I recommend with brief excerpts:
From Joe Griffin and Arthur Rizer in the Tulsa World, "Probation and parole violations — often for technical offenses — are filling Oklahoma prisons, and it's time to do something about it":
A 2017 report drafted by the Council of State Governments shows roughly 24% of Oklahoma prison admissions were due to probation violations. That translates to roughly 3,000 people behind bars. Of those 3,000, more than half are in prison for a technical violation, such as staying out past curfew or missing a meeting. The annual cost to incarcerate these individuals is approximately $32 million.
If someone violates their terms of supervision, there should be consequences. Even more, if one poses a legitimate danger to the community, prison may be the best solution. But is sending a large number of individuals to prison who violate only the technical aspects of their supervision effective for public safety or fiscally responsible?
From J.J. Prescott and Sonja Starr in the Detroit News, "Clean-slate legislation strengthens Michigan":
For years, Michigan has offered certain offenders a chance to set aside their criminal records through expungement. But this path has been long, narrow and rocky at best, so few people have been able to take advantage of it. Now, the state Legislature is considering adopting a package of new bills to expand set-aside access. We strongly urge it to do so.
We recently conducted a major study of the effects of Michigan’s set-aside procedure. We found that while very few people with records get set-asides, those who do have great outcomes. In particular, we find that expungement is associated with large improvements in employment opportunities. Wages increase by close to 25% in just a year as people who had been unemployed became able to find stable work.
We also find nothing to suggest that granting someone a set-aside puts the public at risk, as skeptics have sometimes suggested. Those who receive set-asides are less likely to commit a new crime than the general adult population of Michigan. The rate of serious or violent re-offending is almost zero.
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