Decarceration from Local County Jails during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Closer Look

Martyn, Kevin; Andel, Stephanie A.; Stockman, M. Rhebeca N.; Grommon, Eric

doi:10.1080/23774657.2021.1978905

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Another consideration is the age of the data—specifically, data collected prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, an event that significantly shifted jail and hospital populations (Heiss et al, 2020) and psychiatric hospital intakes (Bojdani et al, 2020). Although the decarceration numbers are already rebounding in many jails (Martyn et al, 2022), the extent to which carceral and legal system-level COVID-19 changes impact downstream CTP referrals remains unknown.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Court-reported competence to proceed data across the United States.

Kois,

Potts,

Cox

et al. 2024

Law and Human Behavior

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Objective: Competence to proceed (CTP) is a constitutional protection intended to facilitate fairness and dignity of court proceedings. Researchers have estimated that between 60,000 and 94,000 defendants are evaluated for CTP each year. Yet no research has systematically identified the number of evaluations conducted each year, despite their critical role and many profound implications. We used large-scale, systematic data collection to address this knowledge gap. Hypotheses: Given the siloed nature of the judicial and forensic mental health systems, we anticipated incomplete data and that the number of evaluations would far exceed previous estimates. Method: In September 2019, we used public information requests to solicit CTP evaluation order data from the judiciaries of 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. We accepted evaluation proxies, such as evaluations ordered or evaluations filed, from the 2018/2019 calendar/fiscal year. We used Uniform Crime Reporting data to estimate a nationwide evaluation-to-arrest ratio and annual evaluation volume. Results: Twenty-five states provided data. We deemed data from 18 states acceptable while acknowledging that data likely underrepresented actual evaluation volume. By extrapolating data from these 18 states, we estimated a conservative national evaluation-to-arrest ratio of 0.015 (95% confidence interval [−0.007, 0.037]), which suggested that 15 evaluations are conducted per 1,000 arrests each year. Consequently, it seems likely that at least 140,000 evaluations are ordered each year nationwide, with several hundred people referred for evaluations each day. Conclusions: Annual CTP evaluation volume likely far exceeds previous estimates. Transparent data are difficult, if not impossible, to obtain. As a result, researchers, legal and forensic mental health professionals, and policymakers lack the ability to implement informed, constitutionally protected CTP practices. Key implications, research directions, and detailed data infrastructure recommendations are provided.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Court-reported competence to proceed data across the United States.

Kois,

Potts,

Cox

et al. 2024

Law and Human Behavior

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“…A search of the published literature on the topic of correctional responses/solutions to the pandemic produced a number of empirical works, none of which though involved collection of data from frontline institutional corrections staff regarding their own solutions (Martyn et al, 2022; Nelson & Kaminsky, 2020; Norman & Ricciardelli, 2022; Oladeru et al, 2020). Instead, many of the proposed strategies to overcome Covid-19-related issues originated from academics.…”

Section: Covid-19-related Problems In Jailsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Problem-solving Covid-19: A qualitative inquiry into how correctional officers and administrators have responded to the dynamic problems of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ferdik¹,

Frogge²,

Doggett³

2024

Psychology, Public Policy, and Law

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Jail administrators and officers have been confronted with a number of workplace problems as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Ever since its emergence, they have been required to contain outbreaks of the virus, manage a correctional population that has grown increasingly frustrated over restrictions imposed on their movements, and contend with health protocols that have been in a constant state of fluctuation. This article commences the literature on how exactly jail staff have responded to these serious problems. Semistructured interview data collected from administrators and officers employed in a county-level jail located in the southeastern United States (N = 21) revealed how, to contain viral spread, respondents received the vaccine and wore masks at all times while working. Trauma-informed leadership was embraced by superiors to help their line-staff deal with the confusion created by constant health policy changes, while gentle communication styles were adopted to de-escalate potentially hostile interactions with detainees. Implications for correctional policy and practice are discussed in light of these findings.

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“…In many jurisdictions, courts closed for, at least, a few weeks, only to return to drastically modified proceedings, often conducted virtually through Zoom (Bannon and Keith, 2021; Smith, 2020). Likewise, many jails restricted new bookings as a strategy to reduce spread of the virus (Martyn et al ., 2021; Novisky et al ., 2020). Law enforcement agencies joined the ranks of firefighters and medical personnel working the frontlines of the pandemic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Guest editorial: On the other side of normal: policing in a pandemic editorial introduction

Gaub

2022

PIJPSM

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Decarceration from Local County Jails during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Closer Look

Cited by 8 publications

References 33 publications

Court-reported competence to proceed data across the United States.

Court-reported competence to proceed data across the United States.

Problem-solving Covid-19: A qualitative inquiry into how correctional officers and administrators have responded to the dynamic problems of the coronavirus pandemic.

Guest editorial: On the other side of normal: policing in a pandemic editorial introduction

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