ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the level of involvement among African Americans in the criminal justice system in the United States before, during, and after the Great Recession. The United States experienced a long overdue decline in incarceration rates during and immediately following the Great Recession. Penal budgets were not protected against the calamitous economic conditions that rapidly emerged during this period, causing many states to lose revenue. The changes in incarceration rates were more erratic in the population of county jails during this period. Community supervision programs, including probation, are obviously different from imprisonment in that adults are not removed from the community, but they are similar in that they both carry with them a formal criminal record. The long-term economic consequences of incarceration also accumulate when considering that adults can become ineligible for certain licensures and certifications as a direct result of their conviction, or even of simply being arrested and not necessarily convicted.
