SJC Letter To The New York Times
“As increasing numbers of Covid-19 diagnoses emerge in our jails, cities and counties need to take action immediately.”
Rethinking Jails
The majority of people in jail are presumed innocent. Most are there for nonviolent offenses. Many are simply too poor to post bail, and are disproportionately people of color. Our overuse of jails carries significant costs—to individuals, families, communities, and society at large. We need solutions to start where incarceration starts: in our nation’s jails.
The Overuse of Jails Hurts Our Communities
The primary purpose of jails is to detain those awaiting trial who are a danger to public safety or a flight risk. Jailing someone who is neither results in huge costs for families and communities—particularly communities of color—including lost income, parents separated from their children, untreated mental health and substance abuse problems, a greater risk of re-offending, and wasted taxpayer dollars.
A total of 191 applications were submitted to the Challenge from jurisdictions spanning 45 states. Meet the 51 that were selected to participate in the Challenge Network.
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The Push for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice Starts with Asking Ourselves: “Who’s Not Here in the Room?”
As technical assistance providers to the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge, my colleagues and I have worked with several key sites across the country to embed racial equity as an integral part of addressing America’s over-reliance on jails, often