Unlocking America: Why and How to Reduce America’s Prison Population, published by The JFA Institute, discusses how to reduce the prison population without adversely affecting public safety. The report states the need to reduce the number of people who go to prison and the lengths of their sentences. The report reviews the evolution of correctional philosophy that has lead to tougher sentencing laws and punishments targeted at lower-class citizens. Incarceration is often based on three myths that were once widely accepted but have proved to be false: 1) There are “career criminals” we can identify and whose imprisonment will reduce crime; 2) Tougher penalties are needed to protect the public from “dangerous” criminals; and 3) Tougher penalties will deter criminals.

   To reduce the prison population and improve quality and fairness of imprisonment, the report makes these six recommendations:

• Reduce time served in prison;
• Eliminate the use of prison for parole or probation technical violators;
• Reduce the length of parole and probation supervision periods;
• Decriminalize “victimless” crimes, particularly those related to drug use and abuse;
• Improve conditions of imprisonment; and
• Restore ex-prisoner voting and other rights.

   Visit www.jfa-associates.com/publications/srs/UnlockingAmerica.pdf to view the full Unlocking America report.

   The Campaign for Youth Justice report Jailing Juveniles: The Dangers of Incarcerating Youth in Adult Jails in America discusses the organization’s opposition to youths in the adult correctional system and offers recommendations for change. According to the report, “On average, 7,500 youth are incarcerated in adult jails every day in America.” Youths are at a different mental development stage than adults, so their treatment and punishment should be distinct from adult inmates. In addition, adult facilities are not designed for youths and the services they require, such as education. Also, staff are not trained to deal with juveniles. In adult jails, youths are at risk of suicide, rape or sexual assault, and isolation. In addition to general statistics, the report includes charts that document how each state handles detention of youths in the adult system. Throughout the report are accounts of real-life experiences of youths and their families.

   The report petitions Congress to:

• Update the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act to ensure that juveniles are not sent to the adult system regardless of whether they are tried in juvenile or criminal court;
• Provide federal technical assistance to states and counties;
• Initiate and provide federal funding for new data collection efforts at the federal, state and county levels; and
• Launch and fund new research on youths in the adult criminal justice system.

   The report also provides similar recommendations for states and counties. To view the complete report, visit www.campaignforyouthjustice.org/national_reports.html.

Crime in Schools and Colleges: A Study of Offenders and Arrestees Reported via National Incident-Based Reporting System Data, released by the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division, explores crime in schools, colleges and universities. The report uses incident-based crime data the FBI received from a limited set of law enforcement agencies through the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program. It also explains in detail the methodology of how the information was extracted from the database and organized for use in the study.

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