The latest figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics show that drug and immigration offenses constitute a large proportion of the cases processed in the criminal justice system, along with a rising number of immigration cases. Starting with the latest numbers from the series ” Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties, 2006 ” we find that between 1994 and 2006 drug cases constituted the largest proportion of felony cases, ranging from 34% to 37%. During the same period the proportion…
Blog Sep 4, 2010
Racial Bias and Certification
A story from the Chicago Reporter is merely the most recent of a long line of studies going back 30 years documenting the racial bias of the certification process. Certifying juveniles as adults was part of an overall conservative “law and order” crackdown on juvenile crime starting during the Reagan administration in the 1980s. Research began almost immediately during that time documenting the disproportionate number of African-American youth who were certified. As the studies poured…
Blog Sep 3, 2010
Brewer, Arpaio and CCA
Over the summer reports started to emerge that revealed that two key advisors for Arizona Governor Jan Brewer had close ties to Corrections Corporation of America . Specifically local CBS affiliate KPOH reported that “two of Brewer’s top advisers have connections” to private prison giant Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). Lawrence Lewis, writing for the Daily Kos , reported that “Paul Senseman, Brewer’s deputy chief of staff, is a former lobbyist for CCA. His wife…
The current economic crisis has already had an impact on the crime problem. Cases of reported runaway youth have been rising, stemming directly from the current crisis. Many states have been releasing prisoners by the hundreds, if not thousands, in order to save money. For the first time since 1972 we saw a reduction in the overall prison population in 2009 . A survey of 233 police departments by the Police Executive Research Forum in early 2009 found that 43 percent of the…
Blog Aug 19, 2010
Abusing Kids at Home
It has often been said that schools are the safest place for kids and that the most dangerous place for kids is inside their own homes. The most recent data on child victims underscores this. In fiscal year 2007 (the latest year available) there were an estimated 3.2 million referrals to Child Protective Services agencies alleging child abuse and neglect, involving about 5.8 million children (more than double the number — 2 million — in 1986). About one-fourth of these cases were…