Punishment

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people in DC are under correctional control at any given time.
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Council for Court Excellence
people have a publicly-available arrest or a conviction record.
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The Urban Institute

Over 10,000 people every year from DC are incarcerated in prison or jail, or being supervised on probation, parole, or supervised release. More than 68,000 people have a publicly-available arrest or a conviction record — a figure so large, a truly representative DC Council would have at-least two members with records.  Research shows that being involved in the justice system leads to higher rates of recidivism, worse health outcomes, and lifelong challenges around housing and employment.  

 

DC has some unique challenges because we lack full local control of the justice system which makes our system of punishment more severe.  Along with your sentence, someone incarcerated will experience:

Terrible conditions

If you are incarcerated, it starts with being in DC jails that deliver food that is inedible, moldy, vermin-infested, has a health care system that has been described as “systemically dysfunctional,”solitary confinement and  dangerous conditions.

Exile from your home

Because DC does not have its own prison and are incarcerated in the federal system, most people are forced to be far from their home for most or all of their sentence in facilities that is hundreds of miles  from the District.

Barriers to reintegration

There is no halfway house for men in DC. Organizations that help plan for someone’s reentry face challenges getting information on when individuals may return home, making reintegration much more difficult. Then a person faces laws, policies, and practices that prevent them from getting a job and housing, and face one of the most restrictive sets of policies in the country to get rid of their record.

All of these negative impacts on the individuals who are incarcerated or who are saddled with criminal records decrease safety.

 

This system of punishment almost exclusively impacts DC’s Black community: 90 percent of people in the DC jail are Black. 

 

Roadmaps have been developed by experts and residents to change this picture.  The District Task Force on Jails and Justice surveyed residents, and developed a series of recommendations that over time would bring most people punished under the system home, shrink the system, and provide robust services to help someone return to the community after being incarcerated.  As of 2023, only 2 percent of these policies have been enacted or implemented.

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90 percent of people in the DC jail are Black.

In this section, the DC Justice Lab highlights solutions to the system of punishment that would increase safety and well-being for everyone, and that are ready for legislative change. Learn more in this section about:

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Halfway Houses

Halfway houses were supposed to help people prepare for a future in the community, but their residents say they felt like they were still in prison.

Learn More

Parole and Supervised Release

Even the United States Parole Commission doesn’t want to be the body deciding whether to deny parole to people convicted of DC Code offenses or send people back to jail.

Learn More

Solitary Confinement

The US Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on solitary confinement – DC’s Judiciary and Public Safety Committee has not.

Learn More

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