rural justice
Opioid Epidemic Drives Increase in Rural Jail Populations
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While jail populations have dropped 18 percent in urban areas since 2013, they have climbed 27 percent in rural areas, says the Vera Institute of Justice.
rural justice
How ‘Dysfunctional’ Rural Justice Systems Hamper the Struggle Against Opoid Abuse
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Poorly trained coroners, the lack of public defenders and the shortage of funds for alternative treatment—combined with an eagerness to prosecute “drug-induced homicides” —have punished the very communities suffering the most tragic consequences of the opioid epidemic, according to an Arizona law professor.
rural justice
Why Do Rural Areas Keep Building New Jails?
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A new Vera Institute report analyzes the jail building boom in rural and suburban areas in America, which has had many negative consequences and is an increase in contrast to urban trends.
rural justice
Where Law and Order Meets Mental Illness
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Mental health courts offer troubled individuals a treatment alternative to jail. They’ve begun to take hold in rural Minnesota’s “Iron Range,” where the fourth such court in the state recently began hearing its first cases.
rural justice
Minnesota’s ‘Hybrid Court’ Offers Addicts an Alternative to Jail
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“We see the transformation in front of our eyes,” says a member of the team operating out of the rural courtroom where Judge Michelle Anderson offers substance abusers the chance to drop charges if they participate in a rigorous 13-month treatment program.
Drugs
How America’s Drug Problem Overwhelms Rural Jails
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In Wisconsin’s Washburn County, local authorities are developing diversion and counseling programs to cope with a 60 percent increase in jail inmates in the past eight years. But they admit it’s an uphill struggle.
Crime Statistics
Jail Incarceration Rate Down 12% Over Decade, BJS Reports
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The decline parallels the drop in state and federal prison populations between 2007 and 2017, according to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. But about two-thirds of those confined to jail cells in 2017—roughly 425,000 people—hadn’t been convicted of any crime.
Rural Justice Crisis
Virginia’s Tangled Politics of Jail Reform
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The Hampton Roads Regional Jail in historic coastal Virginia has been struggling with inmate deaths, staff shortages, and funding issues for more than a decade. But getting help from local and state politicians has been an uphill battle.
Reforming the System
Arnold Ventures Pledges $39M to Reform ‘Broken’ Pretrial System
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More than 30 research and advocacy organizations around the country will participate in a National Partnership for Pretrial Justice aimed at developing alternatives to money bail and pretrial detention, Arnold Ventures announced Tuesday.
rural justice
Jail Revenues ‘Keep the Lights On’ for Cash-Starved Kentucky Counties
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Faced with declining tax revenues, towns and counties in the economically depressed Appalachian coal region rely on state subsidies for jails and prisons to maintain services, says a Vera Institute study.