BUILDING JUSTICEThe architecture of a safe, healthy and just community will utilize incarceration as a last resort and in the interest of public safety. Building justice is to allow community participation in decision-making and to invest in strategies that keep people out of jail.

Happening Now

Harrisonburg City and Rockingham county have hired the architecture firm Moseley Architects to conduct a community corrections study and to draft architectural plans for a new facility to be located in the county.

These two separate projects were on the same bill totaling $120,000. Moseley will be completing both portions of this study by December in order to be eligible for approval and granted the funds to build—estimated at 10 million from the state, matched by 10 million from our community.

The stated urgency is to save the $1.2 million annually that our locality pays to house 100 inmates at Middle River Regional Jail.

Overcrowding: The problem

There is no arguing that a jail rated to house 208 individuals in single cells is facing an overcrowding problem when the average daily population has soared to 450 inmates on a given day in 2014.

HOWEVER…

Do all those individuals need to be incarcerated?

The Rockingham-Harrisonburg Community-Based Corrections Plan (September 2007) would suggest that this may not be the case.

*OTHER (EXCEPT TRAFFIC)*DRUNKENESSDRUG/NARCOTIC OFFENSES*DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE*LIQUOR LAW VIOLATIONS*BAD CHECKSSIMPLE ASSAULTLARCENY*TRESPASS OF REAL PROPERTY*DISORDERLY CONDUCTFRAUDCOUNTERFEITING/FORGERYVANDALISMAGGRAVATED ASSAULTBURGLARYWEAPON LAW VIOLATIONSEMBEZZLEMENT*FAMILY OFFENSES, NONFORCIBLEKIDNAPPINGSEX OFFENSES, FORCIBLEROBBERYSTOLEN PROPERTYMURDERMOTOR VEHICLE THEFTSEX OFFENSES, NONFORCIBLEMANSLAUGHTERARSONEXTORTIONPORNOGRAPHYGAMBLINGPROSTITUTIONBRIBERY*CURFEW/LOITERING/VAGRANCY*PEEPING TOM

ARRESTS BY TYPE: 2006

55 % of those in jail are awaiting trial.

The Supreme Court of Virginia has set guidelines for case processing. 90% of all felony cases and misdemeanors should be concluded at 120 and 60 days, respectfully.

In 2006, 38% of felony cases were concluded in 120 days, with 40% taking 181 days or more. 47% of misdemeanors were concluded in 60 days, with 38% taking 91 days or more.

ISSUES(?): excessive bail, lack of pretrial

services, court backlogging

Sentencing or Diversion Alternatives

What are alternatives that can be utilized instead of jail sentences? Restorative justice Mediation Community service Enhanced probation Substance abuse treatment Mental health treatment

WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN?

Debunk the claim

Reframe the problem

Present the alternatives

How can we do it?

Become the experts Insist on transparency Demand community participation Build a coalition Listen and report Educate and inspire

THE SUPPOSED PROBLEM: OVERCROWDING

Too many people, too little space, plus $1.2 million for 100 beds at Middle River (also, important to note: Middle River’s operating costs are approximately $13 a day less than our local facility.)

Increasing capacity to incarcerate does not “solve” the problem of overcrowding. It also does not save money in criminal justice expenditures or in collateral costs.

As evidenced by the data from 2006 (and barring a boom in violence that could have occurred completely off the radar in the last seven years), the vast majority of individuals in our jail are not violent, not in need of extensive services to justify release, and could be released now.

The Real Problem

Over-reliance on incarceration Mischaracterization of those incarcerated

We rely on incarceration, policing and punishment far more than any other nation (25% of the incarcerated population in the world with over 2.3 million people behind bars).

While is may be slow to reach the ‘burg, both sides of this once very partisan issue are questioning the expense of mass incarceration (operating costs and cost incurred at the community level).

IMMEDIATE SOLUTIONS

Understand who is incarcerated and how: Technical violations, inefficient procedures, court backlogging:

procedural changes can have an immediate effect on the population.

Let police use citations over arrest for certain offenses Institute other consequences (than incarceration) for parole

violations (or do not violate for trivial offenses) Analyze policies in law enforcement and courts to determine which

policies unnecessarily inflate incarceration (also check funding/revenue)

Expand pretrial and probation services that more individuals can remain in the community

Implement affordable bonds or release on recognizance Analyze deficiencies in courts: do we need more Judges? Defense

Attorneys?

MID-RANGE MEASURES

Build on community assets that could be diverting people out of the criminal justice

system to start: Expand restorative justice and mediation services Develop a strong reentry services program Provide more funding for mental health and

addiction services Offer better educational opportunities Ensure quality affordable housing (expand

supportive housing) Expand and develop employment opportunities

LONG RANGE MEASURES

Advocate and educate for procedural justice.

Continually invest in and champion the cost-effective strategies that work to tackle the social roots of crime.

WORKING GROUP SUGGESTIONS

Working groups could break down the process into manageable pieces, and allow for people interesting in joining the effort to find a place where they

could hop in and best utilize their skills. These are suggestions loosely based on what has been identified as the problem

in other communities and could translate to Harrisonburg and

Rockingham as County.

RESEARCH JAIL(fact checking)

Specifically the $$$ How much does it cost to build? Operate? Total (new jail + old jail + transportation)

Find the figures that don’t add up (implication that we will save money if we stop renting beds)

Investigate the collateral costs for a community Find the communities that addressed these

exact problems in a radically different way through tweaking the processes of the criminal justice system

Alternative Investments

What works to prevent crime and to keep communities safe? Investing in programs like quality early childhood

education and youth programming Educational opportunities Creating jobs that pay a decent wage Procedural Justice Affordable housing

(there is abundant research on each of these areas with regards to crime prevention and return on investment)

Public Education

Forums and teach-ins on: The situation of incarceration in

Harrisonburg/Rockingham County, in the state of Virginia, and in the nation

How the community can address the situation, oppose the agenda and have a voice

Practical training on rights restoration, photo-ids for voting, legal rights, barriers to effective reentry and community solutions

Online Activism

Develop, support and maintain political action projects online Social media Dropbox and file sharing Email lists Online campaigns

Community Organizing

Listening Projects Door-to-door canvassing Public opinion surveys

Coalition Building and Political Outreach

Find all the allies Draft letters to elected officials Draft letters to the editor Set up meetings and presentations Attend council meetings and board of

supervisors meetings Where there isn’t an avenue for public

input, create one

NEXT STEPS

Disseminate information to council members and board of supervisors

Articulate expectations for study Plan a ‘kick-off’ for Building Justice and the

no new jail campaign. Plan an event with Fairfield Center (summit) Conduct a Listening Project Develop strategy and schedule for

community engagement, education and support.