CUNY Institute for State & Local Governance’s Post

NEW REPORT: There's a lot of talk around whether letting people held pretrial out of jail causes crime. But what are the facts? Our latest #SafetyandJusticeChallenge report dug into whether people released pretrial after reforms were passed were returning to jail. We found it to be a resounding no - building on past data that's shown the same. Using unprecedented, case-level data, we found that: 🚫 Two years out from COVID-19’s peak, there continues to be no apparent correlation between changes in incarceration and violent crime. 📝 About 80 percent of people who were released on pretrial status were either not rebooked into jail at all or were returned to jail for administrative reasons. 📉 The pandemic-era increase in violent crime was not caused by jail reduction reforms; people released pretrial were very unlikely to return to jail charged with a violent crime—about 2 percent of individuals released pretrial returned with a new violent crime charge. This rate has remained consistent for almost a decade, predating reform efforts. Dig in: https://bit.ly/3zDI0WI

Now more than ever, state & local officials need up-to-date criminal legal system data to make sure their communities are not only safe, but addressing racial & ethnic disparities. We worked with Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to create a dashboard of key data, starting with the initial calls for service through booking, jail populations, pretrial release decisions, and disposition and sentencing. With this Snohomish County, WA, is leading the way in transparency. Dig into the data: https://bit.ly/4bTjMGa

👋 Meet our 2024 summer interns! Our Public Policy Pathways Internship brings together students from across CUNY schools, fields of study, and degree programs to be a part of the work our researchers, policy administrators, data scientists, and budget experts are doing in New York City and across the country. "CUNY students are the next generation of New York City leaders, thinkers, and doers,” said Siobhán Carney, CUNY ISLG’s Policy Director. “We’re thrilled to be embarking on the second year of working with these future innovators to share our knowledge of the ins and outs of public policy so they can head into the world ready to make a difference.” Read more about them here: https://bit.ly/3xSK3pc Amirahon Burhonova, Cinthia Carrion, Roma Garcia Paz, Zelfa H., Savanah Jackson, Julia Jacobellis, Melissa Kiela, Cinthya Marrero, Edward Miller, Dyamante Reid, Yahaya Trawalleh

🎓 A great opportunity from our College-in-Prison Reentry Initiative partners at the SUNY Office of Higher Education in Prison 👇

Since the #SafetyandJusticeChalllenge started almost a decade ago, data has been foundational to determining "what works" in criminal legal reform. As part of our work leading the initiative's research & data analysis, we're taking a bird's-eye view to better understand this collective knowledge. This includes important lessons on how to change systems, what impacts reform strategies have on individuals and communities, and how to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities. One big takeaway is that racial and ethnic disparities won’t naturally fall with general reduction in jail populations. Specially targeted efforts are required to achieve this. On our blog, Senior Research Associate Diana Rodriguez-Spahia lays out what we found, charting the path for new criminal legal reform research priorities: https://bit.ly/3Rfxxa3

NEW DATA TOOL: This week, Snohomish County, WA unveils their Law & Justice Dashboard, providing a look at the latest data from key criminal legal decision points, from calls for service to sentencing. Accessible criminal legal data allows law enforcement, policymakers & the public to monitor trends - especially as they relate to disparities. With support from Microsoft, we partnered with the Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney's Office to create this accessible, to-the-month resource to monitor incidents, jail populations, pretrial release decisions & sentencing. Users can also filter by age, race, gender, charge type & more. Explore the data for yourself: https://bit.ly/4bTjMGa

EXTENDED DEADLINE: Missed last week's deadline to apply for our Fellowship for New York City & State legislative chiefs of staff? We've extended the deadline to Friday, June 28rd, due to increased capacity.   Apply here, and reach out with any questions: https://bit.ly/44EE17D

Much like other aspects of the criminal legal system, racial disparities in jails exacerbate divisions among the people who are held and work there. Understanding and addressing these systemic racial justice issues is crucial for fostering a more equitable and just correctional system. Through the Safety and Justice Challenge's Research Consortium, Wellbeing & Equity Innovations (WEI) sought to uncover the factors driving inequity in jail culture. By creating workgroups composed of jail residents and staff to lead this effort, the study identified the issues and devised recommendations for a practical approach to addressing racial equity in jails. Read more: https://bit.ly/4bGdOI6

DUE TOMORROW: We're looking for chiefs of staff in the NY City & State legislature who want to grow into the next generation of policy & budget experts. Let's start the conversation: https://bit.ly/44EE17D