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Alternatives and Organizing

Aspiring to the Impracticable: Alternatives to Incarceration in the Era Of Mass Incarceration
By Marsha Weissman, New York University Journal of Law and Social Change. May 2009. Weissman argues that in order for Alternative-to-Incarceration programs to reach their potential, they must be grounded in an understanding of the social, political and economic contexts of crime and punishment. She calls on ATI organizations to be proactive in identifying people who would otherwise be incarcerated, provide vigorous advocacy in support of alternatives to incarceration, forcefully confront the racial disparities that impact the use of incarceration, and forge alliances with communities most directly affected by the over reliance on prisons.
http://www.law.nyu.edu/ecm_dlv2/gro...uments/documents/ecm_pro_063446.pdf

Calling for Change
By Liv Gold and Chris Sturr. Dollars and Sense Magazine, May/June 2006. (Telephone justice campaigns.)
http://realcostofprisons.org/materials/Calling-for-change.pdf

Catholic Bishops of the South: "I have come to heal..." Restorative Justice
Part of a series of pastoral statements by Catholic Bishops of the South on the Criminal Justice process.
http://www.catholiclabor.org/church-doc/CBS-4.htm

Children of Incarcerated Parents: An Action Plan for Federal Policymakers
By The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center (October 26,2009). The plan outlines promising practices and 70-plus recommendations for improving outcomes for the more than 1.7 million children of incarcerated parents. The publication reflects the work of an advisory board of criminal justice and child welfare experts, representatives of community-based organizations, and a bipartisan group of state and local government officials. Among the federal action plan's recommendations are those that urge policymakers to:
* create federal interagency task forces and develop cross-system collaborations that address the risk factors of children of incarcerated parents and better link them to services;
* support new policies and practices in the criminal justice system that address trauma associated with a parent's arrest and their incarceration, which is often many miles from where a child is living;
* encourage measures that facilitate visitation when in the best interests of the child and promote permanence that takes into account siblings and other important relationships;
* address federal and state measures that make it more difficult for caregivers to obtain benefits and support for these children.
http://www.reentrypolicy.org/jc_pub...hildren_Incarcerated_Parents_v8.pdf

Compact for Racial Justice: An Agenda for Fairness and Unity
Produced by the Applied Research Center as a proactive agenda for fairness and unity in communities, politics, and the law. November 2008.
http://sentencingproject.org/tmp/File/Racial%20Disparity/rd_compact_final.pdf

Criminal Justice and Health and Human Services: An Exploration of Overlapping Needs, Resources, and Interests in Brooklyn Neighborhoods
By Eric Cadora with Mannix Gordon and Charles Swartz, 2002. Posted on the Urban Institute's website.
http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/410633_CriminalJustice.pdf

Defending Justice
Defending Justice is an Activist Resource Kit that helps progressive activists understand and resist the Right, the State, and other forces that contribute to the growing system of courts, surveillance, policing, and incarceration. The easy-to-use chapters and factsheets are useful tools to draw upon in leading discussions and talking to the press. Through dialog and thinking together, we can create the best strategies for challenging the criminal justice system.
http://www.defendingjustice.org/index.html

The Diminishing Returns of Increased Incarceration: A Blueprint to Improve Public Safety and Reduce Costs
By James Austin and Tony Fabelo, 2004. Published by the JFA Institute.
http://www.jfa-associates.com/BlueprintFinal.pdf

Downscaling Prisons: Lessons from Four States
Justice Strategies and The Sentencing Project, March 2010. Four states - Kansas, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York - have reduced their prison populations by 5-20% since 1999 without any increases in crime. This came about at a time when the national prison population increased by 12%; and in six states it increased by more than 40%. The reductions were achieved through a mix of legislative reforms and changes in practice by corrections and parole agencies. The reforms included:
* Kansas - Changed sentencing guidelines to divert lower-level drug cases to treatment rather than incarceration; Expanded supportive services to people on parole supervision.
* Michigan - Eliminated most mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses; enacted statewide initiative to reduce parole revocations and enhance employment, housing, and treatment services for people leaving prison.
* New Jersey - Increased parole releases by adopting risk assessment instruments and utilizing day reporting centers and electronic monitoring.
* New York - Scaled back harsh drug penalties, established Drug Treatment Alternative to Prison programs, and applied "merit time" credits to speed up parole consideration.
http://sentencingproject.org/doc/pu...ons/inc_DownscalingPrisons2010.pdf

A Dynamic Economic Impact Analysis of Alternatives to Incarceration in Connecticut
A REMI Analysis 2001. Connecticut Center For Economic Analysis, University of Connecticut.
http://ccea.uconn.edu/studies/Incarceration%20Analysis.pdf

Ending the Culture of Street Crime
By The Lifers Public Safety Steering Committee of the State Correctional Institution at Graterford, PA. From Prison Journal, December 2004.
http://realcostofprisons.org/materials/streetculture.pdf

Estimates of the Savings of the Alternative Drug Court Program, Erie County, New York
http://www.jointogether.org/news/re...2004/drug-court-savings-extend.html

Evaluation of the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act (Prop. 36)
SACPA Cost-Analysis Report. Prepared by: UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Program. Proposition 36 Saves Taxpayers' Money: UCLA Study Finds Nearly $2.50 in Savings for Each $1 Spent on Drug Offenders Eligible for Treatment under the state's Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000 (SACPA), or Proposition 36. Over a 30-month follow-up period, this represented a savings to state and local government of $173.3 million for people entering SACPA during its first year. For people convicted of drug offenses who completed their required drug treatment, nearly $4 was saved for each dollar expended.
http://www.uclaisap.org/prop36/documents/SACPA_COSTANALYSIS.pdf

Evidence-Based Public Policy Options to Reduce Future Prison Construction, Criminal Justice Costs, and Crime Rates
The Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP). Findings include: a systematic review of all research evidence to identify what works, if anything, to reduce crime. WSIPP found and analyzed 571 rigorous comparison-group evaluations of adult corrections, juvenile corrections, and prevention programs, most of which were conducted in the United States. They then estimated the benefits and costs of many of these evidence-based options. Finally, they projected the degree to which alternative "portfolios" of these programs could affect future prison construction needs, criminal justice costs, and crime rates in Washington.. They found that if Washington successfully implements a moderate-to-aggressive portfolio of evidence-based options, a significant level of future prison construction can be avoided, taxpayers can save about two billion dollars, and crime rates can be reduced.
http://realcostofprisons.org/materials/WashingtonStateReport.pdf

From Prison to Home: The Effect of Incarceration and Reentry on Children, Families, and Communities Incarceration. Reentry, and Social Capital: Social Networks in the Balance
By Dina R. Rose and Todd R. Clear, John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/prison2home02/Rose.htm

Inalienable Rights: Applying International Human Rights Standards to the U.S. Criminal Justice System
AFSC
http://realcostofprisons.org/materials/AFSC_Inalienable_Rights.pdf

Joining Forces: Prisons and Environmental Justice in Recent California Organizing
By Rose Braz and Craig Gilmore. Radical History Review. Issue 96, 2006. An excellent essay by Craig Gilmore, organizer and co-founder of the CA Prison Moratorium Project and Rose Braz, national campaign director of Critical Resistance. Their essay is a great combination of organizing experience, solid information, no rhetoric, inclusion/validation of the work people are doing and analysis. The article focuses on the complex organizing which took place to prevent the opening of Delano II in California.
http://realcostofprisons.org/materials/Joining_Forces_Braz.pdf

Justice Reinvestment: To Invest in Public Safety by Reallocating Justice Dollars to Refinance Education, Housing, Healthcare and Jobs
A new set of important and concrete ideas in a paper by Susan B. Tucker and Eric Cadora, of the After Prison Initiative, Open Society Institute.
http://www.soros.org/resources/articles_publications/publications/ideas_20040106

Legal Primer
The Prison Book Program in Quincy, MA has developed this Legal Primer. Contact them at: Prison Book Program, c/o Lucy Parsons Bookstore, 1306 Hancock Street, #100, Quincy, MA 02169, or read online using the link below.
http://www.prisonbookprogram.org/wethepeople.pdf

Locked Up: Corrections Policy in New Hampshire/Paper 1: The Fiscal Consequences of Incarceration Policies, 1981-2001
September, 2001. New Hampshire Center for Public Policy's excellent analysis on state corrections policy and spending. Includes a focus on county jails as well as state prisons. Some really good graphics and charts as well.
http://www.unh.edu/nhcpps/lockedup1.pdf

Locked Up: Corrections Policy in New Hampshire/Paper 2: Options For Reducing The Prison Population and the Cost of Incarceration.
February, 2004. New Hampshire Center for Public Policy's excellent analysis on state corrections policy and spending. Includes a focus on county jails as well as state prisons. Some really good graphics and charts as well.
http://www.unh.edu/nhcpps/locked2.pdf

Minnesota's AB 1542: Alternatives to Incarceration for Veterans
Minnesota Council on Crime and Justice, June 2007. A Bill to provide alternative sentencing other than jail for first people who are combat veterans who convicted of first time non-violent offenses.
http://realcostofprisons.org/materials/ab_1542_bill_20050908_enrolled.pdf
http://realcostofprisons.org/materials/vets-in-prison-or-jail-2000.pdf
http://realcostofprisons.org/materi...AlternativesToJailingVeterans2.pdf

Minor Crimes, Massive Waste: The Terrible Toll of America's Broken Misdemeanor Courts
By Robert C. Boruchowitz and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). Nationwide, state and local governments are wasting millions of tax dollars to prosecute petty offenses, creating huge deficits in their budgets and violating the constitutional rights of citizens haled into court. The report comprehensively examines misdemeanor courts across the country. It recommends that states divert non-violent misdemeanor cases that do not impact public safety to programs that are less costly to taxpayers and repay society through community service or civil fines. (April 2009)
http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/defenseupdates/misdemeanor/$FILE/Report.pdf

The Montgomery Story
"The Montgomery Story", a 1956 MLK Jr. comic book, details some key events and spiritual underpinnings of the Civil Rights Era.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/46736/

Moving Target: A Decade of Resistance to the Prison Industrial Complex
The Justice Policy Institute (JPI). This new report examines the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) -- the relationship between government and private interests that use imprisonment, policing, and surveillance as a solution to social, political, and economic problems. The report examines the progress of reform 10 years after Critical Resistance first launched its efforts to dismantle the PIC.
http://www.justicepolicy.org/images...09_REP_MovingTargetCR10_AC-PS.pdf

Prison Book Program Resource Directory
Prison Book Program Resource Directory (2-09)
http://realcostofprisons.org/materi...Book_Program_Resource_List_2-09.pdf

Prison Resource Project Directory
Prison Resource Project Directory (8-09)
http://realcostofprisons.org/materials/Prison_Resource_Project_Directory.pdf

Proposition 36: Five Years Later
Justice Policy Institute report documents huge taxpayer savings through doing away with prison sentences in favor of treatment. That report said the program, saved California $173 million in its first year and $2.50 for every dollar invested since then. www.justicepolicy.org. April 2006.
http://www.justicepolicy.org

Proven Pro-family Criminal Justice Policies that Save Families, Save Taxpayers' Money & Improve the Safety of Our Community
August 2004.Criminal Justice Policy Board, Texas LULAC
http://realcostofprisons.org/materials/LULAC.pdf

Racial Impact Statements as a Means of Reducing Unwarranted Sentencing Disparities
An article by Marc Mauer in the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law proposes the development of "Racial Impact Statements" as a means of assessing the impact of proposed sentencing policies. In Racial Impact Statements as a Means of Reducing Unwarranted Sentencing Disparities, he suggests that these statements have much in common with fiscal and environmental impact statements that have become commonplace at many levels of government. The goal of a racial impact statement would be to assess the projected impact of new sentencing legislation on racial and ethnic minorities prior to enactment of the policy. If the statement indicates that unwarranted sentencing disparities might be produced, legislators would have the opportunity of considering alternative means of achieving public safety goals that would not exacerbate existing disparities.
http://www.sentencingproject.org/A...tions/rd_racialimpactstatements.pdf

Racial Impact Statements: Changing Policies to Address Disparities
By Marc Mauer. Examines policy initiatives designed to make state and federal justice systems more fair and equitable. American Bar Assoc. Magazine, Criminal Justice. Winter 2009.
http://sentencingproject.org/Admin/Documents/publications/rd_abaarticle.pdf

Reconsidering Incarceration : New Directions for Reducing Crime
By Don Stemen. January 2007 Current research on the relationship between incarceration and crime provides confusing and even contradictory guidance for policymakers. The most sophisticated analyses generally agree that increased incarceration rates have some effect on reducing crime, but the scope of that impact is limited: a 10 percent increase in incarceration is associated with a 2 to 4 percent drop in crime. Moreover, analysts are nearly unanimous in their conclusion that continued growth in incarceration will prevent considerably fewer, if any, crimes than past increases did and will cost taxpayers substantially more to achieve. These outcomes raise the question of whether or not further increases in incarceration offer the most effective and efficient strategy for combating crime. Additional research examined in this report reveals several other variables that have also been shown to have a relationship with lower crime rates. An increase in the number of police per capita, a reduction in unemployment, and increases in real wage rates and education have all been shown to be associated with lower rates of crime.
http://www.vera.org/publication_pdf/379_727.pdf

Resisting Living Death at Marion Federal Penitentiary, 1972
By Alan Eladio Gomez, Radical History Review, 2006. The history and development of control units and SHUs, how politicized prisoners at Marion organized against "living death" and how this set the stage for Guantanamo now.
http://realcostofprisons.org/materials/Resisting_Living_Death_Gomez.pdf

Restoration of Prisoners' Pell Grant Eligibility Overdue
By Jason Burford, June 2008. An article on the organizing work of Jon Marc Taylor, PhD, incarcerated in Missouri, Charlie Sullivan of CURE to secure a NAACP resolution restoring Pell Grants to prisoners.
http://realcostofprisons.org/materials/pellgrant.pdf

Smart on Crime: Recommendations for the Next Administration and Congress
The 2009 Criminal Justice Transition Coalition and 21 national organizations released a collaborative report identifying critical needs for federal policy reform. The report contains comprehensive policy recommendations at every stage of the justice system for the new Administration and Congress. Included among the recommendations to overcome these challenges are:
• Eliminate the crack cocaine sentencing disparity
• Expand alternatives to incarceration
• Fund prisoner reentry through the Second Chance Act
• Extend federal voting rights to people released from prison
• Restore welfare and food stamp eligibility to individuals with drug felony convictions
• Analyze and reduce unwarranted racial and ethnic disparity in the federal judicial system.
http://sentencingproject.org/Admin/...blications/inc_transition2009.pdf

Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC) Policy Guide
Promotes criminal justice solutions that embody the principles of effective management, accountability, public safety, and human and civil rights. January 2007
http://www.criminaljusticecoalition...s/tx_criminal_justice_solutions.pdf

Toxic Sentence: E Waste, Prisons and Economic and Environmental Justice.
June 2005. By the Computer Take Back Campaign.
http://svtc.igc.org/cleancc/pubs/prisonfactsheet_305.pdf

Vermont County Develops Cooperative Regional Re-Entry Housing Plan
Six municipalities in Chittenden County (VT) have endorsed a strategic and targeted response to address the housing needs of people returning to the county from jail and prison. The Housing Plan was developed by a Regional Advisory Group convened by the Burlington Housing Authority.
http://www.reentrypolicy.org/rp/main.aspx?dbName=DocumentViewer&DocumentID=902