Research and Course Guides: Teach-in Tuesday companion guide: Incarceration and COVID-19: A collision of epidemics

Incarceration and COVID-19: A collision of epidemics

We are witnessing the collision of two epidemics, COVID-19 and mass incarceration, and the results are disastrous. Not only are people in prisons and jails becoming infected and dying at rates that far outstrip rates in communities outside; mass incarceration also contributes to more illness and death due to COVID outside of prisons and jails. This collision demonstrates that the health and well-being of all of us depends on dismantling mass incarceration now and for the future. In principle, we ought to be concerned about transmission of coronavirus in prisons and jails because the people housed in them are human persons bearing inalienable dignity. We ought also to be concerned because coronavirus spread in prisons and jails will inevitably lead to coronavirus spread outside these facilities because of the porous boundary between prisons, jails, and the wider community.

Tuesday, Mar. 23

Presenter: Dr. Amy Levad, Department of Theology

Interdisciplinary conversation panelists:

Dr. Jessica Hodge, Justice & Society Studies
Dr. Roberto Aspholm, School of Social Work, Morrison Family College of Health

Resources from Dr. Amy Levad

COVID-19 and the criminal justice system
Prison Policy Initiative
The Prison Policy Initiative is a non-profit, nonpartisan group that produces research to expose the harm of mass criminalization. Their COVID-19 page includes reports, links to data, and explainers, and other related research.
COVID-19: A curated collection of links
The Marshall Project
The Marshall Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization focused on reporting on the U.S. criminal justice system. This collection of articles about COVID-19 and the criminal justice system includes those published by the Marshall Project as well as pieces published elsewhere.
Federal Bureau of Prisons COVID-19
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Links to information about the Bureau of Prisons' COVID-19 response as well as a dashboard of COVID-19 testing and positive cases in federal institutions, and vaccine distribution data.
Seen
We are all criminals.
We Are All Criminals is a non-profit organization dedicated to challenging society’s perceptions of what it means to be “criminal.” Through shared stories of those who committed or were accused of committing crimes, those who got away with them, and those who have been directly affected by the criminal justice system, we seek to erase the barriers that separate us.
The Sentencing Project: COVID-19
The Sentencing Project
The Sentencing Project produces research to promote reforms in sentencing policy, address unjust racial disparities and practices, and to advocate for alternatives to incarceration. This page pulls together their publications around COVID-19 and the criminal justice system.
UCLA COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project
UCLA Law COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project
This project collects and reports data on COVID-19 in prisons, jails, and immigration detention centers. That data is collected at the facility level. The project also tracks pandemic-related prison and jail releases, legal filings, and court orders, and grassroots and community organizing efforts.

References from Dr. Jessica Hodge

2018 Update On Prisoner Recidivism: A 9-Year Follow-Up Period (2005-2014)
Mariel Alper, Matthey Durose, and Joshua Markman, 2018. Bureau of Justice Statistics
This report from the US Bureau of Justice Statistics examines the recidivism patterns of former prisoners during a 9-year period.
The Hidden Cost of Incarceration
The Marshall Project, 2019.
The Marshall Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that reports on the US criminal justice system. This article documents the amount of money prisoners' families pay into the corrections system.
Nowhere to Go: Homelessness among formerly incarcerated people
Lucius Couloute, 2018. Prison Policy Initiative.
This report provides the first estimate of homelessness among the 5 million formerly incarcerated people living in the United States, finding that formerly incarcerated people are almost 10 times more likely to be homeless than the general public.
Prisoners' Dilemma
Edward Mallak, 2015. MN Department of Employment and Economic Development.
This report looks at the jobless rate of ex-offenders nationwide, the barriers they face to employment, and the MN programs that exist to help ex-offeders find work.
Recidivism Is a Core Criminal Justice Concern
National Institute of Justice, 2008.
The National Institute of Justice is a US Dept. of Justice program. This short article discusses recidivism and research and statistics around that concept.

Resources from Dr. Roberto Aspholm

Articles

Austerity Is Fueling the COVID-19 Pandemic in New Orleans, Not Mardi Gras Culture
Thoma Adams and Cedric Johnson, April 2020. Jacobin Magazine.
The authors argue that the coronavirus in New Orleans is not cultural practices, but rather a result of class divides and failing public health infrastructure.
Cuomo Helped Get New York Into This Mess
Ross Barkan, March 2020. The Nation.
A look at New York governor Cuomo's role in the coronavirus crisis in New York.
The economic origins of mass incarceration
John Clegg and Adaner Usmani, Fall 2019. Catalyst Journal.
A look at social and political causes of mass incarceration in the United States.
The Panthers can't save us now
Cedric Johnson, Spring 2017, Catalyst Journal.
As essay urging a popular, anti-capitalist politics as the means for ending the policing crisis.
Undone by Neoliberalism
Adolph Reed Jr, Aug. 2006. The Nation.
Discusses the social and economic inequities of New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina, arguing that neoliberalism worsened the inequities by making government the tool of corporations.

Books

Toward Freedom
Toure Reed, 2020.
Reed contends that the road to a more just society for African Americans and everyone else is obstructed by a discourse that equates entrepreneurialism with freedom and independence. He argues that the causes of inequality can be traced to forces such as the contradictions in access to New Deal era welfare programs, the blinders imposed by the Cold War, and Ronald Reagan's neoliberal assault on the half-century-long Keynesian consensus.

This book is not in the St. Thomas library collection, but can be requested via InterLibrary Loan
Running Steel, Running America
Judith Stein, 1998
Judith Stein uses the steel industry to examine liberal policies and priorities after World War II. She argues that it was the primacy of foreign commitments and the outdated economic policies of the state, more than the nation's racial conflicts, that transformed American liberalism from the powerful progressivism of the New Deal to the feeble policies of the 1990s.

This book is not in the St. Thomas library collection, but can be requested via InterLibrary Loan.

Resources for exploring these topics further

Library Research Guide

Criminal Justice
by Merrie Davidson Last Updated Aug 26, 2024 397 views this year

Research Databases

Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Provides comprehensive coverage of research on criminal justice and criminology, including psychological, sociological, and legal aspects.
National Criminal Justice Reference Service Abstracts This link opens in a new window
The NCJR Contains summaries of the more than 200,000 criminal justice, juvenile justice, and substance abuse resources and is sponsored by several departments within the Office of Justice Programs.

Websites

World Prison Brief
Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research
Run out of the University of London, this database provides access to information on prison systems around the world.
Bureau of Justice Statistics: Corrections
Bureau of Justice
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) Corrections Unit maintains over 30 data collections. Most are annual collections of administrative data from correctional administrators, ranging from basic population counts and offender demographic characteristics to facility capacity, programs, staff, and resources.

Articles

Pandemics and Prison Policies: 1918 and Now
Eastern State Penitentiary, April 2020.
A look at penitentiary policies during the 1918-19 flu pandemic and how that relates to COVID-19. Recommended by Dr. Levad during the Q&A portion of the talk.
1918 flu pandemic puts prison medical staff to test
Don Chaddock, Oct. 2018
The story of an influenza outbreak in San Quentin in 1918. Recommended by Dr. Levad during the Q&A portion of the discussion.
Coronavirus: a history of pandemics in prison
Hilary Marland, Clare Anderson, and William Murphy. The Conversation. April 2020.
A look at pandemics and outbreaks through history and the impact on prisoners.

Books

Hard Time by Robert Johnson; Alison B. Martin; Ann Marie Rocheleau
Call Number: ebook
Publication Date: 2016
This book draws from both ethnographic and professional material, and situates the prison experience within both contemporary and historical contexts.
Fourth City by Doran Larson (Editor)
Call Number: ebook
ISBN: 9781611861075
Publication Date: 2014
A collection of more than seventy essays from twenty-seven states, written by incarcerated Americans chronicling their experience inside.
Inside Private Prisons by Lauren-Brooke Eisen
Call Number: ebook
Publication Date: 2017
This book blends investigative reportage and quantitative and historical research to analyze privatized corrections in America. Eisen examines private prisons through the eyes of inmates, their families, correctional staff, policymakers, activists, Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees, undocumented immigrants, and the executives of America's largest private prison corporations.
Emerging Issues in Prison Health by Bernice S. Elger, Catherine Ritter, Heino Stöver (Editors)
Call Number: ebook
Publication Date: 2016
This book from 2016 addresses the health care issues of prisoners. It presents new evidence on several emerging and classical prison health issues.
Substandard Medical Care in U. S. Prisons by Lily Chi-Fang Tsai
Call Number: ebook
Publication Date: 2014-01-01
This book examines inadequate medical care and medical malpractice litigation against prison and jail physicians who have been sued in state courts by inmates during the past decade.
Health and Health Care in the Nation's Prisons by Melvin Delgado
Call Number: ebook
Publication Date: 2008
The United States correctional system is facing an urgent crisis in how to meet the health care needs of its prisoners. As the number of inmates in correctional facilities increases, prisons struggle to adequately address health care needs in a financially feasible way.
Health and Health Promotion in Prisons by Michael W. Ross
Call Number: ebook
Publication Date: 2012
The impact of the United Nations "Healthy Prisons" initiative has highlighted the importance of health and health promotion in incarcerated populations. This invaluable book discusses the many health and medical issues that arise or are introduced into prisons from the perspective of both inmates and prison staff.