Thursday, July 26, 2018

Two persistent myths that hinder #cjreform







He's Innocent said...

A huge factor in this issue is that most folks have no clue there is a difference between jail and prison. To them, it's all interchangeable.

And why would they? Unless they have been justice involved, they have no reason to know. Most folks learn terminology from the media and the media too is guilty of using the wrong words.

Folks -
Prison = found guilty, run the they state, long term incarceration
Jail = mostly not yet guilty, run by the county, short term incarceration or awaiting trial.

Roy Sigfreed said...

The vast majority of defendants in county jail are felony pending or an ICE hold. Very few are in jail pretrial for a misdemeanor only. Thats what makes the federal lawsuit in Harris county so misleading.

Gritsforbreakfast said...

Roy, the Dallas lawsuit includes felony defendants, so watch that one to see where the issue goes.

Anonymous said...

Or perhaps crime rates are going down because police and prosecutors are doing a good job of arresting criminals and keeping them in jail.

Kuato said...

Just yesterday read a good piece on this phenomenon. Known for years. Worse now as newspapers devastated by internet. They, and TV news, are now more easily bribed by the police industry to promote propaganda, disguised as news, to serve their agenda. As a result public perception is more out of wack with reality now than ever before. go to to read down-with-the-daily-crime-story

Gritsforbreakfast said...

@5:18, police are a) arresting fewer people than ever, and b) our prisons release nearly 70k people per year. So that's probably not it.

Thanks Kuato, added the link in the post.

James White said...

Seems like an opportunity for a jingle

Anonymous said...

It's rarely a safe bet to choose the "government got it right" option

Ed said...

The biggest stumbling block to producing smart policy is the local 6 and 10 pm news. "If it leads it bleeds." Conservative and liberal elites agree on needed reforms but state and national lawmakers still fear being accused of being soft on crime. The voting public has to give them approval to be smart on crime policy. They actually know what ought to be done but fear voter reprisal.

Salty said...

I think another big misconception is regarding sentencing. I have found through personal experience that the poor and mentally ill are disproportionately given much heftier sentences than those with means. I'm sure that's due to lack of adequate representation. The "punishment" rarely fits the crime and people fail to realize that we could do a lot better trying to rehabilitate folks instead of punishing them. That's not to say it is always possible but what we're doing now doesn't seem to be working.