After six years of work across five state DOCs, @urbaninstitute.bsky.social and partners share key findings from the Prison Research and Innovation Initiative (PRII), a study of how community-engaged methods can improve prison operations and culture. 🧵

Watch our staff writer @shannonheffernan.bsky.social on MSNBC’s 11th Hour explain how for-profit detention facilities are cashing in on Trump’s mass deportation plans:

New research by @fwd.us found that people with an immediate family member in prison spend over $4,000 every year on their loved one who is incarcerated. Our families deserve better.

“According to an internal memo from the BOP, Joshua Smith was named Deputy Director at the BOP. Smith’s first experience with federal prison was not running one but being incarcerated in one.”

My latest blog post, "Why I Use the Word 'Corrections' (Even Though It Makes Me Uneasy)" jeffreyianross.com/why-i-use-th... #corrections #criminology #criminaljustice #incarceration #prisons #jails #probation #parole

A paper I always teach my students: An empirical sound model that indicates harsher conditions either have no effect on crime or, quite possibly, make things worse. Harshness is not about safety. It's about cruelty. With the data to show it.

Have reforms really triggered a crime wave? How much of mass incarceration is a result of the war on drugs or the profit motives of private prisons? On International Fact-Checking Day, we're busting some of the biggest myths in the criminal legal system🧵 buff.ly/S8yZTrC

The “clearance rate” of reported crimes is a weak statistic that is concerned with one outcome: was an arrest made? That, by definition, includes both true & false positives. “Accurate investigations” as a desired outcome understands that a false positive is a grave error that should be prevented.

Closing out an incredibly rewarding two-day symposium on prison research and innovation. Over 100 attendees joined us in person at the Urban Institute, including all of the individuals below who were part of our Prison Research and Innovation Initiative. 1/2 #corrections #criminaljustice #prison

“Most states spend less than $3 per person per day on prison food — and some as little as $1.02 — according to the analysis by Impact Justice. Even Maine, widely seen as a model for providing good quality food in its prisons, only spends $4.05 per person, per day.”

@davidpitts.bsky.social We should ask people in prison what they think is helpful, don't assume #apls2025

I know it's Puerto Rico and I know it's Saturday morning, but do not miss the closing plenary with me and David Pitts of the Urban Institute. Even if corrections isn't your "thing," the core message (spoiler alert) is about collaboration. We'll meet you at 10:45 AM in San Juan 4-8. #AP-LS2025

US prisons are uniquely closed systems and often lack the data or research capacity required for much-needed evidence-based improvement. Join Urban on 3/20 & 3/21 for an in-person symposium on what research and data do in a #prison environment and how lessons learned can drive change. #LiveatUrban

🚨NEW: US prisons & jails are locking up MORE people after a decade of decline, growing the incarcerated population by 2% But why? We answer that & bust the biggest myths of the carceral system in 2025's edition of Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie👇 buff.ly/NDqIQ2i

Excited to be in San Juan for this year’s AP-LS conference, a first for me and a fantastic meeting so far. I’ll be talking about collaboration and translational research in corrections at Saturday’s plenary. Come by if you are attending! #corrections #criminaljustice

‼️ THE COVID HOMICIDE WAVE HAS OFFICIALLY ENDED (at least in cities) ‼️ The quietly-released Major Cities Chief Assn violent crime data showed homicides fell by ~17%, to levels below those in 2020; higher still than 2019 (w 2 fewer agencies reporting), but lower than 2016 and 2017. This is BIG NEWS!

Paper🧵! We.... 1) develop a framework for identification w/ multiple treatments in a judge IV design 2) find that felony conviction (without incarceration) increases recidivism relative to dismissal with @johneric.bsky.social Aurelie Ouss @winnievd.bsky.social and Kamelia Stavreva 1/

Vera is hiring a graduate student intern for the summer on my team. We’re researching incarceration and inequality, and looking for ~20 hours a week, in Brooklyn. Please share with graduate students you know who might be interested. boards.greenhouse.io/verainstitut...

Here we go…

We are in the midst of an unprecedented prison staffing crisis. Those staff are crucial to prisons’ ability to offer programming, provide medical care, and help incarcerated people prepare for reentry. This will harm those in prison more than the staff. #corrections #criminaljustice

Interesting new paper from a team including my @urbaninstitute.bsky.social colleague, @waltercamp.bsky.social, finding that "high effort" investigative activities (e.g., drug buys, surveillance) do not produce higher drug yields from search warrants. Important implications for police resourcing.

Please join us in person at @urbaninstitute.bsky.social March 20-21 for a two-day symposium featuring a fantastic lineup of speakers from research and practice!

“The financial and emotional toll borne by mothers whose adult children have experienced incarceration is often overlooked but can exacerbate financial burdens, especially for Black mothers.” Read more: phys.org/news/2025-0...

Scientists and journalists need to figure out right quick how to explain to the average person how a massive change in research indirects will impact the medical care they and their children get (eg at the local children’s hospital), the education their children will get, the price of tuition, etc.

A framework that defines optimal outcomes in criminal courts and using it to interpret existing literature on racial disparities in pretrial detention, sentencing, and community corrections outcomes, from Shawn Bushway, Andrew Jordan, Derek Neal, and Steven Raphael https://www.nber.org/papers/w33403

Join us for this all-Star lineup on March 7!!!! Another banger hosted by American Society of Criminology (ASC) Division of Corrections and Sentencing (DCS) Mentoring Committee 🤗

We focus a lot on how tough the summers can be for facilities without AC… but prisons and jails aren’t exactly replete with blankets and other ways to stay warm. Cold spells like this can be tough to navigate, especially in states that aren’t used to them. #criminaljustice #crimsky #corrections

Want to know more about the history of private prison corporations, big capital, and the market for incarceration? My latest from Maryland Law Review will be coming out soon! papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Really fantastic to see what seems to be a bit of a movement toward increased external oversight of prisons. It's unfortunate that it took severe drug issues and particularly high in-custody deaths to get it done, but at least legislators are paying attention. #criminaljustice #crimsky #corrections

Great new paper that supports oversight via accreditation. An additional data point that bears mention: "Our own data reveal a mortality problem that is much more severe, with death rates three times higher than those reported to federal authorities." (!!!) #criminaljustice #crimsky #corrections

"Complex and costly medical conditions require more nursing care, both in prison and after an inmate’s release. Across the country, prison systems often find themselves with few options. Nursing home beds can be hard to find even for those without criminal records." #criminaljustice #crimsky

There is absolutely no reason to shackle those are pregnant, especially in the 3rd trimester, during labor, or shortly after birth. This is a step in the right direction. See more on reproductive healthcare from @urbaninstitute.bsky.social colleague @evelynfmccoy.bsky.social: tinyurl.com/2cskev97

"To improve the success and impact of violence prevention efforts, cities should engage community members who have been affected by violence and apply their insights to inform policies and practices." Great new blog from @urbaninstitute.bsky.social colleagues Storm Ervin and Josh Fording #crimsky

I am a former incarcerated firefighter. I served in a California fire camp from 2009 to 2012. Misinformation is afire on the internet, so here are facts about the prison firefighter program, all in one place. A thread.

New blog post up. This is a technical one, on some strange--and I think unappreciated--disagreements between our two major ways of counting prison pops (NCRP vs NPS). It has some more general applications too: a good general warning that our crim legal system data are far messier than many think.

If you are interested in plea bargaining research, check out the searchable database of research findings from 1979-2023 at the Plea Bargaining Institute - pleabargaininginstitute.com/summaries/ #PleaBargainingInstitute #CriminalJustice #PleaBargaining #Innocence

"Correctional oversight will take center stage in this year’s legislative sessions, driven by mounting scrutiny of worsening prison and jail conditions and the growing adoption of independent oversight bodies across the country." Great piece with insightful commentary by @micheledeitch.bsky.social

Prosecutors, judges, and legislators should all engage in activities like this to help them understand the reality of incarceration and reentry. It takes minimal effort and may not have an enormous impact, but it's doable and at least starts a conversation. #corrections #criminaljustice

As profiled in @npr.org, there's a growing shift in states across the country to enact tough-on-crime laws that are contributing to a rise in US prison populations, despite a long-established staffing crisis and over-crowding. Listen to SPSC partner @fammfoundation.bsky.social's Matthew Charles:

I had a lot of people asking me so I wrote an explainer: Here's how you can help the incarcerated firefighter battling the blazes in Southern California this week: www.latimes.com/california/s...

It is tough to say this strongly enough: *Prisons cannot recruit and retain their way out of this staffing crisis.* The obvious solution - which is admittedly unpopular in this political moment - is to decarcerate and implement sentencing reform to reduce numbers. 1/6 #criminaljustice #corrections

How Plants and Pups Helped Transform This Prison Unit

So-called "compassionate release" policies seem great - and we should want people nearing end of life to be out of prison and with loved ones - but the reality is complicated for two reasons: (1) carve-outs and (2) implementation. 1/5 #criminaljustice #criminology #crimsky #cjreform #corrections

There are 395 incarcerated firefighters "actively engaged on multiple fronts" in the California fires, according to state officials. They are working with nearly 2,000 CAL FIRE firefighters in the LA area. So more than 1 in 10 fire fighters (16% to be exact) are from prisons.

48,204 lives were lost to gun violence in 2022. Due to their high lethality and availability, guns fuel our country’s high suicide and homicide rates. Four out of every five homicides and more than half of all suicides are by firearm. Learn more: publichealth.jhu.edu/center-for-g...

Jimmy Carter was a vocal advocate for criminal justice reform, including calling for an end to the death penalty and lessening sentences for drug-related crimes. We are thankful for his activism on behalf of incarcerated people and legacy as a champion for human rights. jlusa.org/2024/12/29/r...

Reading the headline I assumed they would rather be executed than die in prison, but it's actually a strategic decision that reflects the system's perverse incentives. The individuals are actively appealing their sentences and the standard of review is more favorable if they are sentenced to death.

Thanks to KPBS for interviewing me about an important new exploratory study led by my @urbaninstitute.bsky.social colleague, @evelynfmccoy.bsky.social. The study is based on interviews with 34 women about access to reproductive care in jail. 1/5

Oh no it’s national Circling Back day.