The Issues :: Criminal (in)Justice

Sadly, many of our neighborhood are grappling with serious and long-standing problems, such as blight, fires, home foreclosure, unemployment and a lack of affordable housing opportunities. To properly address these issues in all our neighborhoods, we as one community must organize and collaborate around common interests.
 

Financial Costs

• Housing an inmate awaiting trial in Shelby County:  $87 to $112 per day :: Annual cost:  $36,317 per inmate
• Cost per inmate in state prison:  $60 per day :: Annual cost:  $21,900 per inmate
• Shelby County inmates spent on average 9-10 months in jail :: Average cost:  $16,200 to $18,000 per inmate
• Inmates with mental illnesses cost twice as much as other inmates and they are incarcerated two to five times longer.
  • An estimated 700,000 adults with mental illnesses enter our jails each year
• Amount of Shelby County Sheriff’s budget spent on jail operations:  54-57 percent (the exact percent varies; in FY2012 it was 54 percent)

Incarceration of Youth

• Children who are abused are twice as likely to engage in criminal activity :: 50 to 75 percent recidivism rate among these youth
• Many youth are put in adult facilities where they are:
  • 8 times more likely to commit suicide
  • 5 times more likely to be victim’s of sexual assault
  • 50 percent more likely to be attacked with a weapon

Impact on Youth

• 14 of the 209 Memphis City Schools are listed as high crime sites
• Average of 62 students enter our jails per week

Our Recent Work

• Served as a member organization of Mayor Joe Ford’s Drug Court Task Force, a body assigned to determine funding and propose operational recommendations to ensure the continued success of Memphis’ nationally recognized program for substance abuse treatment and diversion.
• Mobilized community support to ensure that the County Commission provided adequate funding for 2011 Shelby County Drug Court operations.
• Proposed an alternative treatment-based approach to curb instances of aggressive panhandling and advocated for the designation of a single division of General Session Court for all homeless-related cases so that there would be consistent prosecution, as well as alternatives to treatment and supportive housing options.
• Worked with Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) to introduce the Restorative Justice in Schools Act (H.R. 415) in January 2011.