Legally innocent people awaiting trial in jail made up an even larger share of jail populations in both 20, when they should have been the first people released and diverted to depopulate crowded facilities. And of course, when government officials did establish emergency response policies that reduced incarceration, these actions were still “too little, too late” for the thousands of people who got sick or died in a prison, jail, detention center, or other facility ravaged by COVID-19.Ĭity and county officials in charge of jail populations also failed to make the obvious choices to safely reduce populations. Even parole boards failed to use their authority to release more parole-eligible people to the safety of their homes, which would have required no special policy changes. With only a few exceptions, state and federal officials made no effort to release large numbers of people from prison. Reported by the Bureau of Justice Statistics under “ releases,” many of these excess deaths could undoubtedly have been prevented if authorities had made greater efforts to actually release more people from prison. prisons increased by 46% in 2020, and in 2021 were still 25% above pre-pandemic levels, despite the smaller prison populations. The change in admissions was due to several pandemic-related factors - drops in most times of crime, court delays, and temporary suspensions of transfers from local jails - none of which were intentional efforts to reduce prison populations.Īnd of course, while COVID-era deaths did not drive the reduction in prison populations, deaths in U.S. Instead, the population changes are explained by a dramatic drop in prison admissions, which fell 40% in the first year of the pandemic and in 2021 were still down 27% compared to 2019. While prison populations are the lowest they’ve been in decades, this is not because officials are releasing more people in fact, they are releasing fewer people than before the pandemic. Together, these systems hold almost 2 million people in 1,566 state prisons, 98 federal prisons, 3,116 local jails, 1,323 juvenile correctional facilities, 181 immigration detention facilities, and 80 Indian country jails, as well as in military prisons, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S. doesn’t have one “criminal justice system ” instead, we have thousands of federal, state, local, and tribal systems. As public support for criminal justice reform continues to build - and as the pandemic raises the stakes higher - it’s more important than ever that we get the facts straight and understand the big picture.įurther complicating matters is the fact that the U.S. The various government agencies involved in the criminal legal system collect a lot of data, but very little is designed to help policymakers or the public understand what’s going on. Sooner or later you will want to find a tribe to join, so you can band together to support each other in times of need.Īfter you've built up your village and made it as strong as possible, the time has come to conquer other villages and expand your empire.Can it really be true that most people in jail are legally innocent? How much of mass incarceration is a result of the war on drugs, or the profit motives of private prisons? How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed decisions about how people are punished when they break the law? These essential questions are harder to answer than you might expect. You'll need to utilize the troops you recruit to outgrow your enemies by looting and attacking their villages. All around you other players have the same goal: to grow and rule over the largest empire. However, your village is not the only one that is out there. Under your leadership, the village may grow and prosper. Each player controls a small village that can be expanded to a powerful castle. Tribal Wars 2 is an online game set in medieval times.
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