The Data-Driven Series – Criminal Justice (Introduction)

Why a Data-Driven Series?

Welcome to our first Data-Driven Series. Each of our data-driven articles uses real-world numbers and analysis to help explain how we reached our conclusions, and support our recommendations. Introductory articles in the series will be limited in numbers as they are only intended to introduce the subject and explain why we will be digging into them.

Data Gathering, Analysis, and Visualization

Unless otherwise stated, all data for our series comes from publicly available sources, and all analysis and visualization is done by us using this data. We may use ideas or stories from other sources, but we verify that the available data agrees based on our own analysis before we use any conclusions based on the work of others.

We do our best to identify any assumptions we need to make and call out any areas of uncertainty in our conclusions. However, we are only human, so we know we will make a mistake at some point. We are always open to valid criticism and corrections and are willing to acknowledge any mistakes that are pointed out to us. If you have access to data to contradicts our work, please let us know so we can improve our work.

Since we maintain our own copies of all data we use, we are able to combine data from multiple sources to create deeper and more nuanced analyses. In the future, we intend to make all of our data and analyses available for other people to use on their own.

What is the Criminal Justice System

The criminal justice system is the system of law enforcement, prosecution, courts, and corrections that are intended to uphold individual criminal law. In the United States, the criminal justice system is composed of many separate institutions and agencies, and it affects every person in the country.

The system is designed to protect society by holding individuals accountable for their crimes. It is designed to be a system of justice and not just punishment. The goal of this system is to punish people who have committed crimes and to rehabilitate offenders.

Why Should We Look At It?

We are looking into the Criminal Justice system for several reasons.

• America has the highest rate of incarceration among first world countries
• Multiple recent media articles exposing failures of the justice system
• Other articles highlight disparities in the system including racism, sentencing differences, mental health and medical issues, and use of excessive force
• Personal friendship with multiple people within the law enforcement, court, and prison systems

Major Areas of Concern

We want to cover the entire criminal justice system – from law enforcement through the courts, including jail and prison time. We also want to examine related areas and how they impact and are impacted by the criminal justice system including social work, family services, healthcare, government assistance programs, and post-incarceration support services.

Law Enforcement

From a law enforcement perspective, media stories have highlighted several areas worth analyzing. Each of the following topics has garnered national attention over the past two years and will give us a good starting point for our examination.

• Racial Profiling
• Lack of Community Representation
• Use of Excessive Force
• Community Policing Standards
• Handling Mental Health Issues
• Non-Criminal Interactions
• Protests and Gatherings

Courts

Our court system also deserves a review. We are also using recent nationwide articles to identify topics to start with here.

• Percent of Americans Incarcerated
• Time to Trial
• Appeals Process Speed
• Capital Punishment
• Jail Bonds
• Relative/Inconsistent Sentencing
• Sentencing Guidelines
• Fines and penalties

Some topics like capital punishment and sentencing guidelines will require us to dig into the legislative process as well.

Jails and Prisons

Jails and Prisons get less attention since they are not as public as the courts or police, but that does not mean they are any less important. We will also include post-incarceration and alternative programs here.

• Private vs Public Prisons
• Bias in the System
• Incentives to Keep People in Prison
• “Tough on Crime” Initiatives
• Prison Labor
• Healthcare and Social Services for Inmates
• Parole and Community Programs

Summary

In summary, we will be looking at different aspects of the criminal justice system and analyzing how well it meets society’s goals and expectations. We also hope to spark conversations around how it can be improved and re-evaluate if the justice system currently works the way it should. I’m not sure we will have any answers, but I believe the discussion can only help.