DOJ Investigates TN Prison, Murder Continues to Fall & More

"The heinous abuses that occur with regularity at the chronically understaffed facility are unhidden, and they have been documented year after year."

The DOJ has launched an investigation into Tennessee's Trousdale Turner Correctional Center after receiving nearly 100 complaints about rampant violence and unsafe conditions at the privately run prison, where five stabbings occurred in just three weeks this year. Between July 2022 and June 2023, the prison reported 2 murders, 15 accidental deaths, 196 assaults, and 90 cases of sexual misconduct. As abuses continue to escalate, CoreCivic, the for-profit company managing the facility, is facing mounting criticism and calls for the prison's closure.
 
"Imprisoning people for minor crimes and then denying them access to mental health care perpetuates the cycle of incarceration and mental health struggles, increasing costs to the individual and taxpayer alike."

This week, Evan Bayh, former U.S. Senator from Indiana, authored an op-ed in The Hill that brings attention to healthcare inequality in the justice system. The risk of losing Medicaid coverage as a pre-trial detainee exacerbates mental health and addiction issues, he writes, and traps individuals in a costly cycle of incarceration. Bipartisan efforts in Congress, along with models like Indiana's Q360 Healthcare Alliance, aim to reform the system and ensure access to essential health care benefits for incarcerated individuals held pre-trial.
 
"Addressing problems like homelessness, substance use disorder, or untreated mental illness in a community requires resources, thoughtful solutions, and hard work."

This week, a map created by Newsweek and based on 2024 Prison Policy Initiative Data is visualizing where the highest prison populations are per capita in states across the country. Adjusted for population, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Oklahoma top the list as having the highest per capita prison population in the country, while Massachusetts has the lowest. 
 
“After passage, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said the law would 'begin to relieve our overcrowded prisons, redirect funding to our most pressing crime prevention efforts, make our communities safer, and ensure the integrity of our justice system.'”

New analysis from the Brennan Center shows the federal First Step Act has made significant strides in reducing federal prison sentences, expanding rehabilitative programming, and decreasing recidivism. Over 44,000 people have been released under the law and have a low recidivism rate of 9.7%. However, ongoing legal challenges and operational hurdles have tempered the law’s full potential, highlighting the need for continued evaluation and adjustment.
 
"There is a lot of evidence that murder is falling faster nationally than it has ever before — with the caveat that official murder data only exists through 1960."

Violent crime continues to plummet in the U.S. post-Covid. Murder rates in the U.S. saw unprecedented declines in 2023 and are seeing the trend continue with preliminary data in 2024 according to independent analysis. In 2023, cities saw instances of murder decline by up to 13.2%, while 2024 is on track to surpass this with a remarkable 17.8% decline. Though the data now is preliminary, if the trend continues, 2024 could potentially see the steepest reduction in murder rates for any year ever recorded.