Study Suggests That Prosecuting Low-Level Crimes Leads to More Crime

We are fully aware of the sad fact that once you're involved in our criminal justice system, it's hard to get out of it. Recidivism is a real problem, made worse by the fact that it's hard to find real meaningful employment once you have a criminal record. This causes people to resort to illegal methods of earning an income, which further perpetuates the cycle.
A new study has emerged from a political scientist at NYU and economists at Rutgers and Texas A&M that reinforces this occurrence. The study, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, specifically studied misdemeanors and their effects on crime. They found that charring people with misdemeanors doesn't lessen crime, it actually causes more crime. Researchers concluded that those who were arrested for nonviolent misdemeanors, and then had their charges dropped, were far less likely to be charged with another crime down the road.

The highly technical study looked at the data of arrests and prosecutions in Boston between 2004 and 2018:

"We find that, for the marginal defendant, nonprosecution of a nonviolent misdemeanor offense leads to large reductions in the likelihood of a new criminal complaint over the next two years. These local average treatment effects are largest for first-time defendants, suggesting that averting initial entry into the criminal justice system has the greatest benefits. We also present evidence that a recent policy change in Suffolk County imposing a presumption of nonprosecution for a set of nonviolent misdemeanor offenses had similar beneficial effects: the likelihood of future criminal justice involvement fell, with no apparent increase in local crime."

The study also revealed some sinister data, that 80% of cases in the criminal justice system are in fact misdemeanors. This begs the question: if the majority of the cases are misdemeanors, and data tells us that prosecuting misdemeanors comes with a higher rate of recidivism, why are we pursuing prosecution so aggressively? It doesn't help crime rates, and it doesn't help those who end up with criminal records. Those with charges can lose their jobs and then have difficulty finding new jobs, and even housing.

In conclusion, our criminal justice system is severely flawed and needs work. If your opportunities have been affected due to a past criminal record, reach out to the experts at Easy Expunctions so we can help you get a fresh start.