Ending Mass Incarceration Charting a New Justice Reinvestment

• NCJ Number: 242013
• Author(s): James Austin; Eric Cadora; Todd R. Clear; Kara Dansky; Judith Greene; Vanita Gupta; Marc Mauer; Nicole Porter; Susan Tucker; Malcolm C. Young
• Date Published: April 2013
• Length: 36 pages
• Sale Source: Sentencing Project
• Publication Format: Document; Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report assesses the performance of the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) in its efforts to educate State legislators and public officials about the consequences of four decades of mass incarceration for the cost-effectiveness of corrections and to persuade them to undertake reforms not previously considered.

Abstract

The JRI was conceived as part of the solution to the destructive effects of mass incarceration and harsh punishment that disproportionately impacts individuals and communities of color. Its initial intent was to reduce corrections populations and budgets so as to generate savings that would be reinvested in communities with high incarceration rates, making them safer, more prosperous, and equitable. Increasingly, JRI's agenda has moved away from these progressive goals, as it has focused on reducing the rate of prison growth rather than a reduction in the number of individuals currently incarcerated. Consequently, instead of producing savings for reinvestment in communities with high incarceration rates, in too many locations the avoidance of projected prison growth has become more politically feasible than reducing the current number of prisoners. Possible savings from such a current reduction in prison costs have been either returned to the general coffers of States or used to augment community corrections, leaving high-risk communities largely unchanged. By focusing on State-level political and administrative policymakers, the JRI process has too often marginalized well-established local advocates and justice reformers who have a vested interest in promoting long-term implementation oversight that will ensure the sustainability of reforms. This period of reassessment of JRI's impact and objectives is important for guiding its investments and leadership toward significant reductions in U.S. corrections populations and costs through smart, targeted, and locally determined reinvestments that will aid in repairing the destructive and criminogenic impact of high rates of concentrated incarceration for poor communities of color. 5 figures, 1 table, and appended case studies in the early history of the JRI and ways to reduce the juvenile justice population