Investigating Mass Incarceration and the Justice Reinvestment Initiative: A Close Examination of 16 States Taylor Kaspar, Tounhia Khang, Kevin Kutz, Julia Prieto, Department of Community and Environmental Sociology, University of Wisconsin - Madison Introduction In collaboration with Justified Anger, we completed research as part of a Capstone project to bolster the Our Madison Plan. We have done research online as well as interviewed members of the community and city officials to narrow our focus.. We mainly researched successful methods in other states to see how Wisconsin can achieve greater things and compiled our results in our binder.

Methods

Example: Kentucky Year JRI Started: 2010 Population: 4,413,000 Black Population: 408,684 (9% of Population) Black Prison Population: 29% of Prison Black:White Incarceration Ratio: 5:1

Issues with Standardization • We struggled to find information consistently documented between states • We found that a standardized system for gathering data on the criminal justice system is severely lacking national parameters for measuring things like public safety, recidivism, and risk assessment do not exist • This makes comparative research difficult because it limits our ability to draw conclusions between states • While this did limit our project's overall effectiveness, it does underscore the need to document this concern, in order to find a solution for it

Conclusions The JRI has been effective in many states, but there are other approaches that should be considered.

• WHAT IS THE JRI •

Justice Reinvestment Initiative

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Formally funded by Congress in 2010

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Goal: develop policies for criminal justice reform using state-led analyses of problems and potential solutions

• WHAT IS RECIDIVISM • In general it refers to a person's relapse into criminal behavior, often after the person receives sanctions or undergoes intervention for a previous crime

• Policy makers must be sensitive to the complexity of localized issues, rather than proposing a cookie-cutter solution to a massive problem • Community-based interventions and programs that target the issues specific to each neighborhood should be considered for best results • Legislative changes and grassroots initiatives can and should exist simultaneously, addressing individual and systemic causes of mass incarceration. • As with any initiative, the JRI will not be an overnight fix, and will certainly not be the lone solution to a widespread problem • The JRI should be seen as one step in the process toward change and a more just society.

• WHAT IS PUBLIC SAFETY • Refers to the reduction in new offense rates (PEW, June 2014) while including more supervision for parolees through a set of standardized risk assessment tools

• HOW WERE PROJECTED SAVINGS MEASURED • States calculated cost savings based on projected prison costs without reform (June 2014 report)

Acknowledgements • Randy Stoecker, Professor, Department of Community and Environmental Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Karen Reece, Director of Research and Program Evaluation, Justified Anger and Nehemiah Center for Urban Leadership Development • Justified Anger's Incarceration Focus Area Work Group