Incarcerated people are more likely to be sick and less likely to receive care

Incarcerated people are more likely to be sick and less likely to receive care

New survey from the Prison Policy Initiative reveals chronic lack of care before and after incarceration

Summary By: LJ Dawson & Natalie Mattson
Summary By: LJ Dawson & Natalie Mattson

The Study's Critical Points

People who get locked up are more likely to be dealing with chronic health issues and less likely to receive care than the general population. Being incarcerated also creates additional health issues due to the poor conditions of jails and prisons.

 

Often not the worst but the most vulnerable people end up in prison. The same factors that lead to run-ins with law enforcement often mean these people are not able to access regular health care before they get locked up.

 

People inside face many barriers to care whether they deal with substance use disorders, mental health needs, disabilities and even pregnancy.

 

According to a new report released by the Prison Policy Initiative, state prisons do not meet their requirement to provide for the essential needs of people they incarcerate.

 

“As a result, people in state prison are kept in a constant state of illness and despair,” Lee Wang, the author, wrote.

 

The survey found that 80% of people in state prisons diagnosed with hepatitis C still have it despite it being highly treatable. “Reflecting the unwillingness of state prison systems to provide appropriate treatment, even at the expense of public health,” Wang wrote.

 

Half of people in state prisons didn’t have insurance when they were arrested compared to a mere 8%of the general population that does not have insurance. Over a quarter of people coming to prison also have a chronic health condition. These conditions like diabetes, which a higher number of inmates have than the general population, are exacerbated by poor care and food inside prisons.

 

Women and native people face the highest rates of mental illness. More than half of people in state prisons have some sign of mental health issues, according to the report. The report points to policy failures: the government “[…] chipped away at the social safety net and accessible community-based treatment for years, while spending on the carceral system has increased.”

 

The lack of community based solutions to substance use disorder also funnels people into prisons where they lack access to treatment. Half of people in state prisons who have a history of drug use also have one or more mental health issues. A large number of people inside also have a disability, 40% nation wide and 50% of women in state prisons.

 

The report suggests that stakeholders should improve the actual conditions of incarceration that make people sick  or sicker, create better oversight and move older people out of prison permanently.

 

“Finally, while this should be obvious, addressing bad policy and creating better prison policies must not come at the expense of non-carceral, community-based solutions,” the Wang wrote. “States must curtail their reliance on police, jails, courts, and prisons as solutions to social and public health problems.”

VISUAL Breakdown

Above: A graphic depicting that one in five people in prison have gone without a single healthcare visits since being locked up.

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Nearly 150,000 incarcerated mothers spent mother’s day apart from their children​

Many are incarcerated awaiting trial simply because they can’t afford bail.

We go to the Prison Policy Initiative for an insight into mothers in prison. Below are excerpts from the study.

Summary By: Natalie Mattson
Summary By: Natalie Mattson

The Study's Critical Points

  • 58% of all women in U.S. prisons are mothers

 

  • 80% of women in jails are mothers, 55,000 women who are pregnant when they are admitted to jail.

 

  • An estimated 58,000 people every year are pregnant when they enter local jails or prisons.

 

  • Roughly 570,000 women living in the U.S. had ever been separated from their minor children by a period of imprisonment as of 2010.

 

  • An estimated 1.3 million people living in the U.S. had been separated from their mothers before their 18th birthdays due to their mothers’ imprisonment, also as of 2010.

 

  • The 1.9 million women released from prisons and jails every year have high rates of poverty, unemployment, and homelessness

VISUAL Breakdown

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Only 138 commutations have been granted since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020​

It took nearly 100 days into his second year in office for Biden to act on his promise and grant clemency to a single person. We go to the Prison Policy Initiative for an examination of states’ and federal government’s use of commutations, which reduce a person’s sentence.

Below are excerpts from the study.

Summary By: Natalie Mattson
Summary By: Natalie Mattson

The Study's Critical Points

April 26th, 2022: President Joe Biden commuted the federal sentences of 75 people convicted of “nonviolent” drug charges. The President has the executive power to grant commutations and other forms of clemency.

  • Many of the people receiving these commutations had already been released on house arrest due to COVID-19.
  • As of April 1st, 2022, there were around 15,000 applications for a commutation of sentences.
  • 10% fewer people were released from state and federal prisons in 2020 than 2019.
  • Compared to recent presidents (excluding President Obama), Biden’s commutation of 75 sentences is high. Presidential commutations were historically more common.
 
Prison Policy collected data on the commutation process of eight northeastern states.
 
  • 210 commutations were granted from 2005 to mid-2021 across all eight states.
  • 1 out of every 10,000 sentenced and imprisoned people across these states is granted commutation each year, an average of 13 people per year.
  • Connecticut had a 2.2% commutation grant rate from 2016 to 2017.
  • 24 people were granted commutations in Maine from 2005 to mid-2021.
  • There was no data on any commutations granted in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, or Vermont from 2005 to mid-2021.
  • 2010 was the last time a person has been granted a commutation in New Hampshire.
  • 37 out of 14,735 commutations have been granted in New York since 2005.
  • 7 commutations were granted in Pennsylvania between 2005 and 2018.

VISUAL Breakdown

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People can face felony murder charges for people they didn’t kill in 14 states

Since 1985, 11 people have received the death penalty for their participation in a felony where their co-defendants committed a homicide. We go to the Sentencing Project for a study for a study on felony murder.

Below are excerpts from the study.

Summary By: Natalie Mattson
Summary By: Natalie Mattson

The Study's Critical Points

VISUAL Breakdown

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A 4/20 Tale of two countries

Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform. Racial Disparities in Arrests Persist Even in States That Legalized or Decriminalized Marijuana.We go to the ACLU for a study on weed related arrests

Below are excerpts from the study.

Summary By: Natalie Mattson
Summary By: Natalie Mattson

The Study's Critical Points

  • The overwhelming majority of marijuana arrests — 89.6% — are for possession only.

 

  • Black people are 3.64 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession, notwithstanding comparable usage rates. 

 

  • The increasing number of states legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana has not reduced national trends in racial disparities, which remain unchanged since 2010.

 

  • In every single state, Black people were more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession, and in some states, Black people were up to six, eight, or almost 10 times more likely to be arrested.

 

  • In 31 states, racial disparities were actually larger in 2018 than they were in 2010.

 

  • Montana, Kentucky, Illinois, West Virginia, and Iowa were the states with the highest racial disparities in marijuana possession arrest rates. 

 

  • In legalized states, arrests for marijuana sales also decreased greatly from 2010 to 2018 (81.3%).

 

  • Sales arrest rates also dropped in decriminalized states, although to a lesser degree (33.6%).

 

  • Marijuana possession arrest rates have dropped by approximately 15% from 2010 to 2018, resulting in a decrease in the national arrest possession rate, from 250. per 100,000 in 2010 to 203.88 per 100,000 people in 2018.

 

  • Marijuana arrests also accounts for more arrests than for all violent crime combined. In 2018, 43.2% of all drug arrests were for marijuana offenses. 

VISUAL Breakdown

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1.9 million people are locked up in the U.S. on any given day

At least 1 in 4 people who go to jail will be arrested again within the same year — often dealing with poverty, mental illness and substance use disorders, problems that only worsen with incarceration.

We go to The Prison Policy Initiative for a study on the current state of mass incarceration in the U.S.

Summary By: Natalie Mattson
Summary By: Natalie Mattson

The Study's Critical Points

  • 8% or less of all people incarcerated in the U.S. are located in private prisons.

 
  • 4 out of 5 people who are incarcerated are charged with something other than a drug offense.

 
  • of people in jail have substance use disorders, for which there is not adequate care provided.

 
  • 400% increase of people incarcerated dying of intoxication between 2000 and 2018.

 
  • 1 in 5 (18%) people in jail are there for a violation of probation or parole.

 
  • 153,000 people at least were incarcerated due to non-criminal violations of their parole or probation in 2019.

 
  • 25% of the daily national jail population is typically due to low-level offenses such as jaywalking or sitting on a sidewalk.

 

“In Monroe County, N.Y., for example, over 3,000 people have an active bench warrant at any time, more than 3 times the number of people in the county jails.”

 

 

  • 6,000 people are in federal prisons for convictions of immigration offenses

 
  • 16,000 more people are held in pretrial by the U.S. Marshals.

 
  •  22,000 people are civilly detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), facing deportation.

 
  • 38% of the incarcerated population is made up of Black Americans. However, they only represent 12% of the U.S. population.

VISUAL Breakdown

Above: A graphic depicting the number of people who got to jail and prison.

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The system shrank, but its unfairness grew.

When youth of color are arrested, they are more likely to be detained than their white peers.

We go to the The Sentencing Project for a study on youth incarceration. 

Below are excerpts from the study

Critical Points

Youth incarceration is most commonly measured by a one-day count every October. This results in a vast undercount, especially amongst detained youths.

  • 31 youths charged with drug offenses are detained for each one measured in the one-day count.
  • 25 youths charged with public order offenses are detained for each one measured in the one-day count.
  • 18 youths charged with property offenses are detained for each one measured in the one-day count.
  • 11 youths charged with person offenses are detained for each one measured in the one-day count.

Likelihood of detention by race and ethnicity in 2019:

  • Latinx youth – 32%
  • Black youth – 29%
  • Asian/NHPI youth – 26%
  • Tribal youth – 25%
  • White youth – 20%

Likelihood of commitment by race and ethnicity in 2019

  • All youth – 7.6%
  • Latinx youth – 9.3%
  • Black youth – 9.3%
  • Tribal youth – 7.9%
  • Asian/NHPI youth – 5.6%
  • White youth – 5.6%

Over the past 10 years, the likelihood of detention for white youth and Tribal youth has remained about the same. However, Latino youth’s likelihood increased by 4%; Black youth’s increased by 3%; Asian/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander increased by 5%.

VISUAL Breakdown

Above: A graphic depicting the miscount of youths in detention.

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10-Year follow-up study of people released from state prisons in 2008

People released in 2008 had a median of nine prior arrests and five prior convictions in their history.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics study consisted of about 73,600 people released from state prisons in 2008 who were randomly selected to represent the approximately 409,300 people released across 24 states in 2008. Excerpts of the study are below.

Summary By: Natalie Mattson
Summary By: Natalie Mattson

The Study's Critical Points

  • 82% of study participants were arrested at least once during the 10 years following. 

  • 66% of study participants were rearrested within 3 years. 

  • 90% of study participants, aged 24 or younger at the time of their release, were arrested within the 10 years following. 

  • 85% of participants between the ages of 25 to 39 at their release, were arrested within 10 years. 

  • 75% of participants who were 40 or older at the time of their release were arrested within 10 years.

  • 81% of participants who served less than the 15-month median were arrested within 10 years of release.

  • 76% of participants who served more than the 15-month median were arrested within 10 years of release.

  • The annual arrest percentage among study participants decreased from 43% in Year 1 to 22% by Year 10.

Read the whole study here.

VISUAL Breakdown

Above: A graphic depicting the disparity national recidivism over ten years from state prisons.

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The burden of prison medical costs, another barrier for the incarcerated finding healthcare

For people earning 14-63 cents an hour in prison (many earn nothing at all for their work), a typical $2-5 copay is the equivalent of charging a free-world worker $200 or $500 for a medical visit.

 We go to the Prison Policy Initiative for a study on prison copays. Below are excerpts.

Summary By: Natalie Mattson
Summary By: Natalie Mattson

The Study's Critical Points

In 2017, only eight states did not charge medical copays for incarcerated people: Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Wyoming.

 

  • This study reviewed each state’s policy on the topic and any temporary changes they’ve made during COVID-19. 

  • Since 2017, California and Illinois have eliminated medical copays. 

  • For the last two years, Virginia has suspended medical copays as part of a pilot program. 

  • Texas reduced its exorbitant $100 yearly health care fee to a less atrocious, but still out-of-reach, $13.55 per-visit fee.

  • Idaho also reduced its medical copays in prison from $5 to $3 in 2018.

  • Twenty-eight states modified their policies during the first few months of the pandemic, and, ultimately, all but one state — Nevada — temporarily changed their policies.

  • Most states that have modified their copay policies during the pandemic only suspended copays for respiratory, flu-related, or COVID-19 symptoms. But these limitations ignore the facts that not all COVID-19 symptoms fall within these vague categories, and many people don’t display symptoms at all.

  • Five states — Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Minnesota, and Texas — rolled back their COVID-19 copay modifications at some point during the pandemic. 

  • Alabama went from suspending all copays to reinstating them for all cases in December 2020. 

  • Minnesota and Texas had modified copays to accommodate people with COVID-19 symptoms, but reinstated all copays in December 2020 and September 2021, respectively. We confirmed that 22 states continue to operate with their COVID-19 copay policy changes in place.

 

Read the whole study here.

VISUAL Breakdown

Above: A graphic depicting state prison co-pays.

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Serving time in prison during young adulthood is as common for Black men as college graduation is for White men​

A four decades study links mass incarceration to higher death rates of Black people.

 We go to the JAMA Network for a study completed over four decades on the mortality risks of U.S. incarceration and the impacts that it has on Black compared with non-Black populations. 

Below are excerpts from the study.

Summary By: Natalie Mattson
Summary By: Natalie Mattson

The Study's Critical Points

VISUAL Breakdown

Above: A graphic depicting the disparity in mortality rates between Black and Non-Black participants within the study.

Resources