The Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice is a nonpartisan research institute at the University of Minnesota Law School. We are committed to a criminal justice system that is fair, effective, and accountable.

Areas of Expertise

Home

What's New
Latest Robina Report Analyzes Colorado Parole Board's Response to the COVID-19
New Report Assesses What COVID Prison Releases Demonstrate About the Ability of the U.S. to Reduce Mass Incarceration
Recording Now Available for Robina's "Disrupting the Probation to Incarceration Pathway" Webinar
“In non-paroling systems, prison officials have sole control over back-end prison release discretion for most sentenced individuals. Their ability to affect prison population change ranges from limited to significant, depending on the design of the good-time and earned-time credit system.”
How Does Prison Release Indeterminacy Affect Prison Population Size?
Recent Publications
Publication
06.05.23

Balancing Risk: Colorado Parole Board's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study examines the response of the Colorado Board of Parole to the COVID-19 pandemic. To mitigate the spread of the virus within correctional facilities, it increased the parole grant rate, expedited case review, and utilized special…
Publication
05.22.23

Risk Averse and Disinclined: What COVID Prison Releases Demonstrate About the Ability of the U.S. to Reduce Mass Incarceration

This report examines the challenges and opportunities that states faced in deciding whether to release people from prison during the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on the legal mechanisms available to jurisdictions and the factors that…
More Publications