Analysis Area 1: (A) Assess behavioral health challenges, especially opioid addiction, and their impacts on people in the criminal justice system, including assessing the availability, funding, and oversight of treatment resources; (B) analyze jail and prison-based programming and treatment, including that related to diversion and reentry.
Background: Behavioral health challenges, especially related to the use of opioids, are particularly pressing in Maine. Between 2012 and 2017, Maine’s drug overdose deaths increased 156 percent, driven by a 278-percent increase in the rate of opioid-related overdose deaths. In 2017, Maine’s drug overdose death rate was the ninth highest in the nation, with many deaths linked to the opioid crisis in the state. Data released in April 2019 indicates that overdose deaths declined slightly in 2018, but the overall rate remains high, and state leaders are determined to address this critical challenge.
Update: Analysis of publicly available data showed a decline of more than 40 percent in the number of drug arrests in Maine between 2007 and 2017, with the most significant decline happening from 2015 to 2017. Discussions with stakeholders highlighted that this decline is likely a result of the decriminalization of marijuana in Maine in recent years, though additional analysis is needed to verify this assertion. A recent report from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) showed a slight downturn in the number of drug overdose deaths in Maine from 2017 to 2018. However, while the number of drug overdose deaths in Maine declined in 2018, DHHS analysis showed that the proportion of those deaths attributed to opioids actually increased, from 80 percent in 2017 to 85 percent in 2018. As part of the state’s response to the opioid epidemic, both the Maine Department of Corrections (MDOC) and jails across the state recently began providing medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for incarcerated people with addiction issues. Because this process began only within the last several months, no data or usable information on outcomes is available yet. Engagement with Maine criminal justice and behavioral health stakeholders through Justice Reinvestment is ongoing; representatives of DHHS, MDOC, the Maine Sheriffs Association, and many other stakeholder groups that routinely confront the issues of opioids and other behavioral health challenges are part of the commission (Maine’s Justice Reinvestment working group).
Analysis Area 2: (A) Determine primary drivers of prison population growth in Maine, including revocation policy and practice, recidivism monitoring, and time-earning status; (B) evaluate probation policy and practice in Maine so that probation can be maximized as a tool for recidivism reduction and recovery outcomes can be improved for people on supervision.
Background: Between 2015 and 2018, the state’s average daily prison population increased 15 percent, reaching an all-time high of 2,468 people in July 2018. During this period, the female prison population increased 30 percent, far outpacing the growth of the male prison population, which increased 13 percent. This growth has created capacity pressures for DOC, which is operating near capacity and is facing associated challenges (e.g., a lack of programming space in the state’s primary female prison facility due to crowding), especially for the female population. Each year from 2015 to 2018, more than 42 percent of admissions to prison were the result of a probation revocation. Additional case-level data analysis is needed to better understand the dynamics of supervision revocations (including the nature of violations, violation responses and sanctioning by supervision officers, and judicial responses to violation behavior), but many leaders and stakeholders attribute revocations, at least in part, to a lack of necessary community-based programming for mental illnesses, substance addictions, and cognitive behavioral interventions. For people released from prison in 2014, the three-year return-to-custody rate for those released to probation supervision—37.7 percent—was more than 15 percentage points higher than it was for those who were released without a subsequent term on probation—22 percent.
Update: As in many states, people on probation in Maine account for the vast majority—74 percent—of people under correctional control. Analysis of publicly available data and discussions with Maine stakeholders in August highlighted the significant challenge posed by recidivism in Maine. Information provided by MDOC showed that 26 percent of prison admissions in Maine in 2017 were for new crimes committed while on probation, while 18 percent of admissions were for revocations stemming from technical violations of probation conditions. Discussions with stakeholders continued to emphasize the importance of analyzing current probation operations in Maine and relevant community treatment and programming resources for people on supervision or who are reentering society after a term of incarceration.
Analysis Area 3: Study how Maine’s criminal justice system affects people differentially by race, ethnicity, and gender.
Background: As of 2014, the incarceration rate for black people in Maine was nearly six times the incarceration rate for white people. In 2018, black people made up an estimated 1.6 percent of the state’s population but accounted for 11 percent of the prison population. In the same year, Native Americans accounted for an estimated 0.7 percent of Maine’s population but made up 3 percent of the state’s prison population. State leaders are keenly interested in the intersectionality of race and gender dynamics at each key decision point in the criminal justice system, and CSG Justice Center staff are seeking relevant data from state and local agencies in Maine.
Update: Discussions with Maine stakeholders, including district attorneys and the MDOC staff, identified a possible explanation for at least some of the racial disproportionality in Maine’s prison population: people coming from outside of Maine who are charged and convicted with narcotics trafficking. While the data obtained by the CSG Justice Center will not contain an address for people in the system, some Maine stakeholders have offered to pull individual files to determine the veracity of this claim. Many believe that the growth in the female prison population is also related to drug use or distribution, especially for opioids; pending data analysis by CSG Justice Center staff should verify the accuracy of this idea.
Analysis Area 4: Analyze how Maine’s criminal justice system serves victims of crime.
Background: Maine has low rates and amounts of victim compensation, despite the increases in violent crime. Half of homicides in Maine arise from intimate partner relationships, and the state needs more access to better-run programs to prevent abusive behavior that often escalates to even more serious crimes.
Update: CSG Justice Center staff met with leadership from the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence and the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault regarding JRI in Maine. Both organizations have recent experience in leading policy initiatives on programming and resources for perpetrators and victims of violent crime and are named in LD 829 as members of the working group. Analysis showed that Maine’s victim compensation program, which is operated through the attorney general’s office, is underutilized compared to compensation programs in neighboring states. The number of applicants to Maine’s program is approximately half that of New Hampshire, a northeastern state with roughly the same statewide population and rates of crime. Maine’s maximum victim compensation benefit of $15,000 is lower than that of 37 other states.
Analysis Area 5: Assess pretrial decision-making systems, including the availability and use of diversion programs; analyze indigent defense policy and practice.
Background: Maine’s pretrial release system relies upon non-judicial, non-attorney bail commissioners who collect fees from the people whose bail they are setting. This system has been criticized in recent years as uninformed and outdated. Maine’s indigent defense system relies entirely on private attorneys and has been criticized for placing the case-related interests of indigent defendants in conflict with the financial interests of the attorneys appointed to represent them. Maine leaders are interested in data- and policy-related assessments of these areas of the criminal justice system through JRI.
Update: Meetings between CSG Justice Center staff and county commissioners, sheriffs, district attorneys, defense attorneys, and leadership from the Maine Indigent Defense Commission have demonstrated the variety of approaches to pretrial policy and practice across Maine, and further analysis is necessary to determine strengths, weaknesses, and needs of pretrial approaches in localities across Maine. Pretrial assessment and release continue to be an area of interest for Maine stakeholders, but other entities in the state are actively assessing this issue, so coordination with those efforts is important for Maine’s Justice Reinvestment project.
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o 8/12: Meeting with Policy Director (Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence [MCEDV]) to provide an update on the Justice Reinvestment project in Maine, including initial findings based on publicly available data. Conversation topics included Maine’s victim compensation program, policy, and programming in Maine for both victims and perpetrators of domestic violence, and areas of policy analysis for MCEDV that may impact Justice Reinvestment in Maine.
o 8/12: Meeting with Representative (40th District, Maine House of Representatives) to discuss both policy and operational concerns for the Justice Reinvestment project in Maine. The Representative has been named by the Speaker of the House as the House co-chair of Maine’s Justice Reinvestment working group.
o 8/13: Meeting with Executive Director (Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault) to provide an update on the Justice Reinvestment project in Maine and discuss initial findings based on publicly available data.
o 8/13: Meeting with Cumberland County Sheriff and President of the Maine Sheriffs Association and Director (Maine Sheriffs Association) to provide an update on the Justice Reinvestment project in Maine and discuss initial findings based on publicly available data. Discussion also included jail population trends, challenges for law enforcement and jail staff in Maine, and research and policy objectives for the Maine Sheriffs Association.
o 8/13: Meeting with President (Maine Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers) to provide an update on the Justice Reinvestment project and review initial findings based on publicly available data.
o 8/14: Meeting with Commissioner (MDOC) and Director of Strategic Initiatives (MDOC) to provide an update on the Justice Reinvestment project in Maine and discuss initial findings based on publicly available data. Discussion also included specific challenges and trends in MDOC, the agency’s research and policy objectives, and more.
• 8/2: Call with Representative (40th District, Maine House of Representatives) to discuss questions and concerns related to the operation of Justice Reinvestment in Maine, including plans for engaging with various state leaders and stakeholders and staffing of the commission.
• 8/9: Call with Director of Strategic Initiatives (MDOC) to discuss the role of MDOC in the Justice Reinvestment project in Maine.
• 8/20: Call with Representative (40th District, Maine House of Representatives) to provide an update on the Justice Reinvestment process in Maine, including plans for a subsequent site visit in September 2019.
This month, research team members focused on finalizing the launch presentation and acquiring case-level data from the state’s criminal justice stakeholders. To complete the launch presentation, staff relied on publicly available reports and aggregate-level reports generated by the state’s criminal justice stakeholders. The research staff discussed case-level data requests with IT staff from the Maine Department of Corrections, Maine Department of Public Safety, and Maine Administrative Office of the Courts.
This month, research staff learned that the state experienced significant decreases in the number of arrests between 2007 and 2017. However, the state has not seen a similarly significant decrease in the jail population or the prison population. This relationship will need to be explored as part of the Justice Reinvestment process.
The state is eager to share data and working toward that goal
• 8/21 – Phone Call: Phone call with Maine Department of Corrections staff to discuss the data extract provided to the DOC by their IT vendor.
• 8/22 – Written Communication: Email with staff at the Maine Department of Public Safety to discuss how to share data in an efficient, safe manner.
• 8/ 23 – Data Analysis: Explored the trend in opioid overdose death rate over the last decade; compared to the country’s overdose death rate and the rates of neighbors.
• 8/28 – Data Analysis: Examined the relationship between arrests and sex in the state over the last decade
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