Prosecutorial Diversion Programs

Abstract

Despite the increased use of decarceration strategies across the country, racial and ethnic minorities, people living in poverty, and individuals living with behavioral health disorders continue to be overrepresented throughout all sectors of the criminal justice system. Across the criminal justice continuum, perhaps no setting is more critical to smart decarceration efforts than local prosecutors' offices, and increasing attention has been given to the role that prosecutors hold as key decision makers within the criminal justice system. As a result, a small, but growing number of progressive prosecutors throughout the United States are rethinking and redefining the meaning of a successful prosecutorial outcome. In recent years, prosecutor-led diversion programs (PLDP) have emerged as a promising front-end criminal justice intervention that provides individuals with an opportunity for an early exit from the criminal justice system. The purpose of this chapter is to provide the reader with a better understanding of the power prosecutors hold within the criminal justice system and to review the limited, but growing body of published research on the development and implementation of PLDPs. As part of criminal justice reform efforts nationwide, we also highlight some examples of progressive prosecution programming currently in use and conclude by offering recommendations for future PLDP research and program development.

Catch and release: Testing the effect of a citation release policy on crime in Washington, DC

“…Analysts have long known that incarceration does a poor job of rehabilitating arrestees, preventing recidivism, and improving public safety (Durose et al., 2014; Jones & Sawyer, 2019; Pattillo et al., 2004; Sawh, Goff, & Epperson, 2022; Travis et al., 2014; Wakefield & Uggen, 2010). This is to say nothing of the devastating effect of incarceration on individuals and the communities in which they live—fracturing families, eroding social capital, and perpetuating intergenerational disadvantage (Tonry, 1995).…”

“…This is to say nothing of the devastating effect of incarceration on individuals and the communities in which they live—fracturing families, eroding social capital, and perpetuating intergenerational disadvantage (Tonry, 1995). Desire for reform is high (see Marlowe, 2022; Petrosino et al., 2022; Sawh et al., 2022; Snedker, 2022), and public support for decarceration is increasingly robust.…”