Article Review

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Article Review

Bradner, K., & Schiraldi, V. N. (2020). Racial inequities in New York parole supervision. Columbia University, Justice Lab. 1-24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7916/d8-f4sf-0s28.

Summary

The article “Racial Inequities in New York Parole Supervision” by Bradner & Schiraldi (2020) explores the racial and ethnic inequities in practices of parole supervision in New York. The text shows that the scope and conditions surrounding New York’s parole supervision practices have substantial impacts on individuals serving sentences. Specifically, the conditions relating to parole supervision in New York are reported to hinder the freedom of offenders, encourage incarceration, and can deter the community reintegration process necessary for successful reentry after leaving prison. Therefore, the article strives to examine the racial and ethnic inequities on parole violations and revocation in New York, and also provide further context through the review of existing studies on inequalities that exist in supervision practices countrywide.

Focusing on the three points mentioned above, the report outlines the findings by Justice Lab analysis that demonstrate that New York’s people of color go through disparate burdens at all these points. As such, the report indicates that Black and Latinx people are more prone to parole supervision compared to white people, and supervision disparities are worse in men than women on a national scale. It is also evident that the detainment of black and Latinx people for parole in the New York City jails is at a higher rate unlike the rate of white people, the rates of blacks are higher the those of Latinx people. Supervision disparities for males are reported to be at a higher rate compared to men where the rates of men from the colored background are more likely to experience supervision disparities for prison incarceration in the New York City State prisons. The research finding for the article shows that people of color in New York are exposed to disparate outcomes at a profoundly higher level compared to the reported national averages. From the review of existing research, the article found that being on parole for a longer duration increasingly puts people of color at a disadvantage, and as such, they are more likely to be unfairly charged with violations as well as receive severer punishments.

As such, the report recommends several approaches to aid in reforms on the parole system to prevent or mitigate disparities relating to parole supervision in the New York City State prisons. Notably, policy change is the key recommendation that is believed to trigger positive effects for Black and brown people. The article cited the Less Is More Act which is intended to enact the proposed policy recommendation. More importantly, the article deduced that there is high feasibility on parole reforms in New York that would significantly address the sources of racial and ethnic disparities that are deeply rooted in the City’s parole supervision. As such, legislative actions should be taken to mitigate the challenges associated with discrepancies in parole supervision that directly affects the lives of the violators and the community at large. The report shows that Black and brown people as well as the already underserved communities will continue to suffer from the disparities in parole supervision if the policy changes fail to take place.

Discussion

The article conducts in-depth research on the conditions of parole supervision and the possible impacts on the people of color and the already vulnerable underserved communities in the New York City State prisons. The article utilizes extensive and reliable sources of data to support their findings and make feasible recommendations. From the report findings, the people of color are disproportionately more likely to experience violation charges and receive harsher punishment due to the fact that they remain on parole for longer, unlike the white people (Bradner & Schiraldi, 2020). Furthermore, there is a constant increase in the number of people under parole supervision countrywide in the past years, with a reduction in probation populations and the number of individuals under community corrections supervision. The high number of persons under parole supervision increases the possibilities of disparities within the system, and often, the most disadvantaged groups are the people of color. Therefore, “There are three points at which racial inequities in parole supervision practices can be readily observed in the likelihood of experiencing parole supervision, in the likelihood of being charged with a violation, and in the likelihood of incarceration for a violation.”

The fact that people on parole are expected to adhere to certain rules or conditions such as dissociating with people with criminal records and avoiding substance abuse means that failure to adhere will result in re-incarceration, an offense referred to as technical violation. Re-incarceration can result in severe punishment such as sentencing to an extended time in state prison. Therefore, the article deduced that people of color are more likely to be charged for technical violations as a result of the existing racial and ethnic disparities in the parole supervisions, particularly in New York (Bradner & Schiraldi, 2020). The rules and conditions set for parole supervision are the notable aspects that encourage the persistence of disparities since they obstruct the people under supervision and their families from living normal lives. For instance, anyone who is under supervision cannot engage freely with the community due to conditions such as not being allowed to live with supportive family or friends with criminal records or work overnight in well-paying jobs because they are not allowed to violate curfew hours. All these pose a lot of difficulties in rehabilitating offenders towards re-entering society after a prison sentence.

Furthermore, the existing racial and ethnic discrimination on the people of color along with conditions of parole supervision are contributing aspects that worsen systemic racial inequities. For instance, New York is reported to have lower parole supervision rates countrywide but it has the highest rate of re-incarceration (Bradner & Schiraldi, 2020). The report utilizes reliable statistics from credible sources to show that the people of color constitute the largest population of persons on parole and are being held for new charges. This relates to the fact that a larger population of the Black and brown communities are prone to violence, increasing the risk of being incarcerated and re-incarcerated. Therefore, the presence of disparities in parole supervision will mean that most people who will be charged with technical violations are people of color. Furthermore, the longer one is under parole supervision means they are likely to violate parole rules, and as such, increases the risk of being re-incarcerated. It is, therefore, clear that parole supervision practices have profound impacts on offenders and people within their surroundings, and especially people of color and already-vulnerable underserved communities. As such, the recommendations suggested in the article regarding the need for policy reforms on the parole system in New York will bring positive impacts and even justice to the disadvantaged population.

References

Bradner, K., & Schiraldi, V. N. (2020). Racial inequities in New York parole supervision. Columbia University, Justice Lab. 1-24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7916/d8-f4sf-0s28.