Sonja Starr says surveys used in many states to estimate criminals’ risk of recidivism – consulted for parole, probation, and even sentencing decisions – assign higher risk to those in poverty. “[The questions] are about the defendant’s family, the defendant’s demographics, about socioeconomic factors the defendant presumably would change if he could: employment, stability, poverty. It’s basically an explicit embrace of the state saying we should sentence people differently based on poverty.”

More about Starr says surveys intended to predict recidivism assign higher risk to poor >