Prison Release

The Robina Institute seeks to examine how discretionary powers of release interact with the rules, statutes, and laws that create the various systems of prison release in each state. We work with state Departments of Correction and parole boards to map out how prison releases get made, identify process areas to streamline or improve, and provide post-intervention assessments. Our research pinpoints which release levers can be targeted to produce reductions in prison populations while maintaining public safety.

Projects

Publications

More Publications
Publication

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

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…
Report

Examining Prison Releases in Response to COVID: Lessons Learned for Reducing the Effects of Mass Incarceration

In response to the global pandemic in 2020, states and the federal government began to make non-routine releases from prison in order to reduce prison populations to allow for social distancing in prison facilities. This report is aimed at…

Events

Articles