Name of Report: Justice Reinvestment
Organizational Affiliation: Open Society Institute
Author: Susan B. Tucker (Program Director: The After Prison Initiative Criminal Justice Initiative) & Eric Cadora
Contact Information: Open Society Institute, 400 West 59 th Street, New York, NY 10019
Date: November 2003
Pages: 8
Content Summary
Primarily, the report aims to justify why a new approach needs to be taken in terms of reallocating the funds that are utilized by the prison industry. The report begins by stating that prison spending is very problematic because the input is not positively affecting the output. One of the fundamental questions that this paper asks is "what happens to the offenders re-entering their communities after having served their prison sentences?" The document reports that for the most part, many of the ex-offenders return to their home environments, usually low income neighborhoods that are predominantly populated by people of color, both unprepared and unstable to advance. The paper argues that in spite of all the spending that is done on prisons; they still remain largely ineffective when it comes to serving their purpose. Finally, the remainder of the paper deals with offering alternative solutions to budget spending that will in the end benefit everybody. The report introduces the idea of Justice Reinvestment, which is that a significant portion of the $54 billion that America spends on prisons should be reallocated towards rebuilding human resources and physical facilities of neighborhoods overcome by high levels of incarceration. Interwoven into the paper are examples of alternative budget reinvestments that have produced positive results.
Major Findings
The rate of prison incarceration is rapidly increasing. Currently there are more than two million people in the U.S. incarcerated whereas in 1972 the number of people in prisons was estimated at 200,000. Certain disadvantaged neighborhoods and communities are largely disproportionately represented in correctional facilities. One example that the report touches upon is the fact that three percent of Cleveland neighborhoods are home to 20% of all Ohio prisoners. These prisoners can be usually characterized as young people of color who are poor, unemployed, and undereducated. Therefore, they are usually convicted of non-violent crimes. Another significant point brought up in the report is the likelihood of more than two-thirds of released prisoners ending back up in prison. Some of the solutions that are outlined in the justice reinvestment campaign include spending money on job training, drug treatment programs, and various other service learning programs. A model example that is looked at is the experience of Dennis Maloney, a former appointee of Oregon's prison forecasting committee as well as organizer of youth programs for Oregon's Commission on Children and Families. After observing the absurdities of prison planning and spending, Maloney looked for other means to deal with offenders. He found that community service as an alternative to jail time produced rapid results. In fact in Deschutes County, community service programs reduced youth incarceration in state facilities by 72 percent.
Unaddressed issues or concerns
While the report offers many important insights, the report would have a deeper impact if more examples were given that demonstrate the positive affects that alternative methods to incarceration have on different environments and communities. Furthermore, it would also be useful to provide more concrete data that display the extent to which current spending on prison maintenance is both unnecessary and ineffective. One of the goals of the Sentencing Project is to address the preposterous spending on prison maintenance. By looking at the data provided by the Justice Department, they found that an enormous amount of the money that is spent imprisoning drug convicts is spent confining people who've never even committed a serious crime. Moreover, many of these non-violent offenders are serving sentences of 15 years or more which is costing multiple thousands of dollars each year. Furthermore, the current rate of incarceration is steadily increasing with a rate of 1 out of every 140 U.S residents being incarcerated. Over time, the rates of incarceration will undermine other institutions, especially family and community initiatives (Piehl 304).
Reference List
Piehl, Anne M. "The Challenges of Mass Incarceration." Criminology and Public Policy 3.2 (2004): 303-308
How to Access Report
www.infoUSprograms@sorosny.org