Equity and Criminal Justice
SAVI Talks - November 18, 2021An individual’s interaction with the criminal justice system is not necessarily a random event: Research shows that beginning from birth, various factors including disability, race, gender, and economic status result in disproportionate impact on subpopulations in a way that makes them more likely to engage with the criminal justice system. These factors, and policies that alleviate or compound existing inequities will be examined using the Cradle to Prison Pipeline framework.
This report examines a concept called the “cradle to prison pipeline.” It is a review of some of the basic statistics at each stage of this pipeline: childhood, school, juvenile justice, early adulthood, and imprisonment. For each stage, we present basic trends and disparities across race, place, gender, and other demographic variables.
Research has shown that highlighting racial disparities can actually increase support for policies that perpetuate inequality, such as “stop and frisk.” With caution, this report maintains a focus on disparities, particularly between Black and white residents, because those are indicative of problems within systems and not the inherent criminality of individuals or populations.
Black and white jail population per 100,000 people age 15-64 (five-year average)
Indiana
Marion County
Community Trends Report
SAVI Talks Presentation
Introduction & Report Presentation:
Panel Discussion & Closing Remarks:
Articles and Story Maps
Explore other research and interactive content we have developed around equity.
2022 Midterm Election Voter Turnout in Marion County
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Modern Redlining in Indianapolis?
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A Deep Dive into Affordable Rental Housing
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The Lasting Impacts of Segregation and Redlining
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Indy Evictions May Reach 34,000 or More in 2020
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Police Used Force on 1.3 Percent of Black Residents Since 2015
Police used force over 1,600 times in 2019. Officers use force on black residents at a rate 2.6 times higher than white residents.
Socioeconomic factors explain why some New York ZIP codes were hit hardest by COVID-19
By comparing New York’s COVID-19 test results with demographic and socioeconomic factors by ZIP code, we found that low education levels, crowded housing, and a lack of health insurance are some of the strongest predictors of high COVID-19 positivity rates.
The Inequalities Behind COVID-19 Disparities for African Americans in Indianapolis
COVID-19 positivity rate is 1.8 times higher for blacks than for whites. We explore how systemic inequities put many black individuals at higher risk for getting the virus, having a serious case, and suffering from the economic impacts compared to white residents.
Authors
Sharon Kandris
Associate Director,
The Polis Center
Jay Colbert,
Data Manager,
The Polis Center
Jeramy Townsley,
Visiting Research Analyst,
The Polis Center
Matt Nowlin,
Research Analyst,
The Polis Center
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