Author: Malika Ali

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Project Plan

The COVID-19 pandemic had significant global impacts that affected all aspects of everyday life. One area that was particularly unequipped to handle these events was America’s criminal justice system. Events such as increased media coverage of police brutality and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement further influenced the system. So how exactly did the pandemic as a whole affect the system, and what sorts of short term and long term effects are present? 

Area of Interest:

Pennsylvania (possibly New Jersey as well for a comparison model) 

Narrow down the time frame:

  • Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
  • Pandemic (2020-2021)
  • “Post” Pandemic (2022-2023)

3 Major Components of the Criminal Justice System:

  1. Law Enforcement:
    • Study Changes in Arrest Rates
      • Analyze how arrest rates changed across Pennsylvania before, during, and after the pandemic.
      • Consider racial disparities in arrest rates.
      • Collect data on arrest rates and COVID-19 infection rates.
      • Impact of BLM and Social Unrest:
        • Examine how increased media coverage and social unrest affected law enforcement practices.
  2. The Courts:
    • Operational Changes
      • Analyze changes in court operations, including delays in trials and the shift to virtual legal proceedings.
      • The impact on access to legal representation and the quality of defense.
    • Study changes in prosecution rates and policy shifts.
  3. Corrections:
  4. Study changes in incarceration rates and prison conditions
  5. Investigate policies aimed at reducing overpopulation and exposure to COVID-19, such as early releases.
  6. Collect data on COVID-19 spread within correctional facilities.

Data Collection:

  1. Types of Data Needed:
    • Arrest Rates in PA:
    • Incarceration Rates in PA:
    • Prosecution Rates in PA:
    • COVID-19 Spread Rates in PA:
      • General spread rates and specific rates within incarceration facilities
    • Recorded Changes in Policy
  2. Sources
    • Arrest and Incarceration Rates:
      • Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
      • Pennsylvania State Police arrest records
      • Bureau of Justice Statistics
      • Local county jails and police department records
    • Prosecution Rates (?)
    • COVID-19 Spread Rates:
      • Pennsylvania Department of Health
      • Reports from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
      • CDC reports on COVID-19
    • Policy Approaches and Changes:
      • Official government releases and policy documents from Pennsylvania
      • Legislative records
      • News articles and scholarly articles 
    • Possible Comparison Data:
      • New Jersey Department of Corrections
      • Philadelphia Police Department and local jails
      • Comparative reports from organizations like the Prison Policy Initiative
    • Qualitative Information:
      • Reports from criminal justice advocacy groups
      • News articles and scholarly articles 

Analysis:

  1. Short-term Effects:
    • Immediate Changes:
      • Analyze immediate changes in arrest rates, incarceration rates, and prosecution rates.
      • Study policy shifts and changes in law enforcement, courts, and corrections.
    • Policy and Procedural Shifts:
      • Analyze effects of policy changes, such as those aimed at reducing overpopulation in correctional facilities.
  2. Long-term Effects:
    • Systemic Changes:
      • Lasting impacts on arrest rates, incarceration rates, prosecution rates, and policy shifts.
    • Public Attitudes:
      • How public attitudes towards law enforcement have changed.
      • Perceptions of justice and equity.

Conclusion:

  • Immediate and long term effects
  • Best Practices and Areas for Improvement:
    • Best practices implemented during the pandemic.
    • Areas for improvement in the criminal justice system.
    • Discuss how these insights can improve responses to future public health issues.

Platform:

  • Debating between WordPress and ARCGis for presentation and visualization (leaning towards ARCGis) 
  • Narrative Approach
    • Tell the story of how the pandemic affected the criminal justice system.
    • Highlight the factors that emerged as a result of the pandemic and how they altered lives and the system.
    • Discuss the long-lasting effects on legal system, law enforcement practices, and public perceptions of justice
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Week 1 Insights

From the beginning of my journey at Bucknell, I wanted to conduct research. I’ve explored various research programs and got my feet wet, but I was most interested in the Digital Scholarship Summer Research Fellowship program because I wanted to conduct research and create something with real-world implications. This program helped provide the perfect medium for this. I was also excited about the opportunity to learn from our wonderful program facilitators, Carrie Pirmann and Claire Cahoon, as well as work in a research cohort with fellows on various projects. So far, the experience has been amazing, and I am thrilled to pursue this academic journey alongside such wonderful and thoughtful people. I have already learned so much from and alongside my fellow researchers and am eager to see how this summer unfolds.

My project focuses on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the criminal justice system. I am still refining the primary focus of my project, but I hope to study how the pandemic has changed the justice system by analyzing arrest and incarceration rates, COVID-19 spread rates, and approaches to incarceration. I aim to specifically focus on Pennsylvania, but I may also compare it with New Jersey. Through this, I hope to answer what some of the lasting effects of the pandemic on the justice system have been. The pandemic was a lived experience for us all, and it fascinates me how society has almost glanced over it as we returned to normal. The truth is, the pandemic was life-changing for many. I myself experienced much instability and even moved to Pennsylvania before enrolling at Bucknell. I’ve always been interested in law and justice, but my experiences throughout the pandemic made me realize how much it changed the world on a structural level. Like many other systems, the criminal justice system was not equipped to handle something like COVID-19. During the pandemic, the justice system faced numerous challenges, from addressing overpopulation during a contagious outbreak to long delays and the total closure of in-person courtrooms, which changed and affected the lives of so many people.

Through the fellowship, I hope to learn more about the digital humanities and the various tools I can use to conduct and enhance my research. By the end of the program, I aim to have produced impactful research that sheds light on the intersection of COVID-19 and the criminal justice system in Pennsylvania. I hope this can help identify best practices and areas for improvement, improving understanding of the state-level impact and providing valuable insights for those striving to address the challenges posed by COVID-19 within the criminal justice system.

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Malika Ali

Malika Ali ‘26 is an International Relations & Classics double major with an intended minor in Arabic. She grew up in Carteret, NJ, but moved around during the COVID-19 pandemic before settling in Lewisburg, PA. Malika is very interested in law and justice and hopes to eventually attend law school after graduating Bucknell. She is specifically interested in public policy and criminal justice.

Her project focuses on studying the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the criminal justice system. Specifically, she aims to analyze how the pandemic led to changes in prosecution rates, arrests, and incarcerations, highlighting inequities that arose such as increased risk of exposure, reduced access to legal representation, and overcrowding. Additionally, her research considers the impact of social movements like Black Lives Matter and the heightened media coverage of police brutality, which also influenced changes in law enforcement and procedures.