Putting a Price on Justice: How to Incentivize the Downsizing of Prison Populations

Abstract

We argue that the proximate reason the United States overuses prisons is that for local prosecutors and judges, sending offenders to prison is “free”; the state pays. By completely subsidizing prison use, states incentivize local overuse of prisons. State prisons in the United States are common pool resources, so options to managing common pool resources used in fisheries and environmental protection may have applications to corrections. We propose, for this purpose, seven options: six involve pricing systems and each having several variants. Each approach, in its own way, puts a price on justice. We also outline other changes in correctional and sentencing practices policy makers need to make to implement these approaches. We anticipate potential consequences, good and bad, of incentivizing justice. Finally, we fully expect our proposals to incur the ire of some political idealists on the right and the left. Nevertheless, for policy makers who are concerned about practical solutions to the grave injustices and high costs of mass incarcerations, our portfolio of options should be useful.     

Revolving door laws and state public utility commissioners

This paper investigates the effects of revolving door regulations – laws that restrict the post‐government employment opportunities of public sector workers – on the characteristics of state public utility commissioners. We find that commissioners from states with revolving door regulations have less expertise, serve shorter terms, and are less likely to be subsequently employed by the private sector, compared with their counterparts from states without revolving door laws. These findings suggest that revolving door regulations may have costly unintended consequences.     

Detection of nitro-organic and peroxide explosives in latent fingermarks by DART- and SALDI-TOF-mass spectrometry

The ability of two mass spectrometric methods, surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (SALDI-TOF-MS) and direct analysis in real time (DART-MS), to detect the presence of seven common explosives (six nitro-organic- and one peroxide-type) in spiked latent fingermarks has been examined. It was found that each explosive could be detected with nanogram sensitivity for marks resulting from direct finger contact with a glass probe by DART-MS or onto stainless steel target plates using SALDI-TOF-MS for marks pre-dusted with one type of commercial black magnetic powder. These explosives also could be detected in latent marks lifted from six common surfaces (paper, plastic bag, metal drinks can, wood laminate, adhesive tape and white ceramic tile) whereas no explosive could be detected in equivalent pre-dusted marks on the surface of a commercial lifting tape by the DART-MS method due to high background interference from the tape material. The presence of TNT and Tetryl could be detected in pre-dusted latent fingermarks on a commercial lifting tape for up to 29 days sealed and stored under ambient conditions.     

Afterschool Youth Program Design and Structural Quality: Implications for Quality Improvement

This study examined quality and afterschool program designs with a focus on conditions of persistent low quality. Using an action science case study method, data from a quality-improvement project were examined to explore circumstances and reasons for low quality. Four identified program designs varied by emphasis on academics, school alignment, physical space, resources, and grouping strategies, as well as by the operationalization of youth choice. These program design features were found to be dynamically interrelated and key elements of structural quality yet were not found to be targets of state, funder, or agency quality improvement interventions guided by the current broad theory of change for quality initiatives. Structural quality, conceptualized as dynamic and interdependent, may be a prerequisite condition for self-directed quality improvement or a focus of targeted quality interventions.     

Family influences,school behaviors,and risk for the later development of an eating disorder

Interviews were conducted with parents of 136 female and 45 male adolescents categorized into risk groups for the later development of an eating disorder. The family and school concomitants of risk status in females were demonstrated to be different from that in males. Risk group female adolescents rated family cohesion, parent-adolescent communication processes, and overall family satisfaction more negatively than the comparison group. Mothers of moderate risk group females reported lower family cohesion than the comparison group; there were no group differences for adolescent females in fathers' ratings of family measures. However, no group differences were found on any of the family measures between male risk and comparison males. For both females and males, there were no significant group differences in family history of eating and mood disorders, or alcohol dependence. Teacher ratings indicated relatively greater internalizing tendencies in the high-risk female group.This investigation was supported by NICHD Grant Number 1R01-HD24700 awarded to Gloria R. Leon.Received Ph.D. from University at Maryla. Research interests include precursors of eating disorders and stress and coping in extreme environments. To whom correspondence should be addressed.Received M.A. from San Diego State University. Research interests include precursors of eating disorders, substance abuse, and personality.Received Ph.D. from Stanford University. Research interests include psychosocial aspects of health promotion and disease prevention.Received B.A. from University of Maine. Research interests life span development and family issues.     

Environmental survey for four pathogenic bacteria and closely related species using phylogenetic and functional genes

Bacterial species with high DNA sequence similarity to pathogens could affect the specificity of assays designed to detect biological threat agents in environmental samples. The natural presence of four pathogenic bacteria, Bacillus anthracis, Clostridium perfringens, Francisella tularensis, and Yersinia pestis and their closely related species, was determined for a large collection of soil and aerosol samples. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and gene sequencing were used using group-specific 16S rRNA primers to identify pathogens and related species, and pathogen-specific virulence genes. Close relatives of B. anthracis (B. cereus group species) were detected in 37% of the soils and 25% of the aerosol samples. The B. anthracis protective antigen (pag) gene or a close homolog was detected in 16 of these samples. For the other three pathogen groups, the frequency of detection was much lower, and none of the samples were positive with both the phylogenetic and virulence gene primer sets.