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: Conversations with Maine leaders and stakeholders in September continued to highlight the impact of behavioral health challenges on the state’s criminal justice system at state and local levels. Some stakeholders attribute the downturn in drug overdose deaths in Maine in 2018 to the increased use of Narcan by law enforcement agencies across the state. Narcan administrations are closely tracked by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), which is also responsible for regulating behavioral health treatment services in the state. DHHS officials are working closely with leaders and staff from other agencies in Maine, but all believe that further collaboration is key to improving recovery and recidivism outcomes in the state. Discussions with staff from the Maine Department of Corrections (MDOC) also highlighted the prevalence of behavioral health conditions among people in prison; it was estimated that nearly three out of every four people in prison were assessed as needing some kind of behavioral health treatment. Further analysis is needed and will be conducted upon receipt of case-level data from MDOC. Arrest data from the Maine Department of Public Safety and court data from the Maine Administrative Office of the Courts were transferred to CSG Justice Center staff in September; both data sources should yield useful information on the intersection between behavioral health and criminal justice in Maine.
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 for those who were released without a subsequent term on probation—22 percent.
Update: Comparisons between state- and federal-level sources on Maine’s prison population highlighted the significant growth in the number of people serving relatively short prison sentences in the state. In Maine, people serving a sentence of more than nine months serve that time in state prison. In the last decade, the number of people serving sentences of at least one year has declined, while the overall prison population has increased, indicating substantial growth in the number of people serving between nine months and one year. Discussions with district attorneys, judges, and DOC leadership indicate that this trend is likely related to efforts to connect people to needed treatment and programming resources that do not exist (or are very difficult to access) outside DOC.
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 in September about racial disproportionality in Maine’s criminal justice system with staff from the Maine Administrative Office of the Courts resulted in adjusting the current data agreement to include defendant residency information for criminal case filings in Maine. This information should enable CSG Justice Center staff and others to better understand the impact of people from outside of Maine on the state’s criminal justice system, including how residency relates to racial disproportionality in the state’s prison population.
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 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: In September, CSG Justice Center staff communicated with Director of Crime Victim Compensation Program in the attorney general’s office, to learn more about the program. They indicated that Maine’s victim compensation board approves a substantially higher percentage of claims than is shown in federal data. They also highlighted both successes and challenges for the state’s compensation program, including recent efforts to expand the number and type of services that can be covered. The Director will be providing additional information on program income, costs, and more in the near future. Discussions also continued with the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence and Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault, both of which remain supportive of the intensive analysis being conducted through JRI in Maine.
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: In September, CSG Justice Center staff attended a meeting of a subcommittee of the Chief Justice’s Pretrial Justice Task Force, which met in Augusta in late September to discuss various identified challenges and corresponding policy proposals related to pretrial justice in Maine. Members of this subcommittee, including many stakeholders with whom CSG Justice Center staff have spoken about Justice Reinvestment, highlighted the need for intensive analysis of criminal justice data in the state and their strong support for Justice Reinvestment. The findings of the task force are due by November 30, 2019.
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o 9/9: Meeting with District Attorney (Kennebec and Somerset Counties) and Information Technology (Maine Prosecutors Association) to discuss data needs for the Justice Reinvestment project.
o 9/10: Meeting with Data and CQI Coordinator (DOC) to discuss data needs for the Justice Reinvestment project, including the information collected and maintained in various information technology systems operated by Maine DOC.
o 9/10: Meeting with Executive Director (NAMI Maine) to provide an update on the Justice Reinvestment project in Maine and gather information on possible connections with law enforcement and community-based mental health treatment providers in the state.
o 9/10: Meeting with House Co-chair (Commission to Improve the Sentencing, Supervision, Incarceration, and Management of Prisoners) and Senate Co-chair (Commission to Improve the Sentencing, Supervision, Incarceration, and Management of Prisoners) to discuss commission appointments, stakeholder engagement conducted by CSG Justice Center staff, and next steps for the commission. Discussion included scheduling of the first commission meeting for Thursday, October 3.
o 9/11: Meeting with Senior Research Associate (Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine) to discuss current and previous criminal justice-focused research projects in the state and how those efforts can inform Justice Reinvestment in Maine.
o 9/12: Meeting with (Criminal and Specialty Dockets Manager (Administrative Office of the Courts) to provide an update on the Justice Reinvestment project in Maine and discuss specific challenges, needs, and recent changes in policy affecting the judiciary.
o 9/24: Meeting with policy subcommittee of the Pretrial Justice Task Force meeting in Augusta. Criminal and Specialty Dockets Manager )Administrative Office of the Courts) chairs the subcommittee and the meeting was attended by representatives from Maine Pretrial Services, the Maine Prosecutors Association, Maine Indigent Defense Commission, Maine House of Representatives, Maine Department of Public Safety, Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine.
o 9/24: Meeting with staff from the Office of the Senate President, Office of the Speaker of the House, and Office of the Governor to define roles and responsibilities between co-chairs, members, staff, and the technical assistance provider (CSG Justice Center) working with the Commission to Improve the Sentencing, Supervision, Incarceration, and Management of Prisoners, which will act as the state’s Justice Reinvestment working group.
• 9/3: Call with Representative (House Co-chair, Commission to Improve the Sentencing, Supervision, Incarceration, and Management of Prisoners) 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.
• 9/13: Call with Director of Strategic Initiatives (Maine Department of Corrections) to provide an update on the Justice Reinvestment project and coordinate outreach to various criminal justice stakeholders in Maine.
• 9/16: Call with Representative (House Co-chair, Commission to Improve the Sentencing, Supervision, Incarceration, and Management of Prisoners) to provide an update on the Justice Reinvestment process in Maine
• 9/30: Call with Director of Women’s Services (Maine Department of Corrections) to learn about gender-responsive programming and treatment being provided by the Department of Corrections, recent trends in the female prison population, and areas of need and concern for the department related to women in the criminal justice system in Maine.
• 9/30: Call with Executive Director (ACLU of Maine) and Policy Counsel (ACLU of Maine) to provide an update on the Justice Reinvestment project and learn about the organization’s past criminal justice work, current policy initiatives, and areas of interest in Maine.
This month the CSG Justice Center research team focused on receiving and cleaning data. In the next month, the research team hopes to receive data from the courts and prosecutors and hopes to examine arrests by offense level and explore demographic and gender dynamics in the arrest data.
New Insights Gleaned:
Many of the arrests reported in publicly available “Crime in Maine” reports are for violations of conditional release. More analysis needs to be done to see if these violations are accompanied by new offenses.
• 9/4– Data Analysis: Explored the newly received Maine Department of Public Safety Computerized Criminal History (CCH) data; examined data by fiscal and calendar year; determined follow-up with DPS staff needed.
• 9/6– Phone Call: Call with staff at the Maine Administrative Office of the Courts to discuss the Justice Reinvestment data request. The discussion included information about the way sentence lengths, fines, fees, and restitution were entered into the courts’ database as well as a discussion about the timeline for the transfer of data.
• 9/6– Written Communications: Email to staff at Maine DPS asking if all criminal history arrest records, including summonses were included in the data shared with the CSG Justice Center research team; determined an additional data pull would be necessary.
• 9/6– Written Communications: Email with staff at Maine DPS establishing a time to pick up new arrest data while on site in Maine.
• 9/9– In-Person Meeting: Conversation with the Maine Prosecutors’ Association to discuss the possibility of sharing data for the Justice Reinvestment process.
• 9/12– Data Analysis: Examined new CCH arrest file, analyzing arrests by calendar year.
• 9/20– Data Analysis: Analyzed Maine’s CCH data; determined that many of the arrests coded as “Other” are for violations of conditions of release.
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