decarceration

noun

de·​car·​cer·​a·​tion (ˌ)dē-ˌkär-sə-ˈrā-shən 

: release from imprisonment

Early data show that crime has remained level in most cities that have released incarcerated people, and that crime rates are functionally unrelated to decarceration.

—Cynthia Roseberry

There is much talk of defunding the police but little of decarceration—freeing from prisons people who are locked into place because they don't have the financial wherewithal to afford the gentler and more understanding criminal justice system.

—Erik Sherman

also : the practice or policy of reducing the number of people subject to imprisonment

Decarceration is the effort to limit the number of people who are detained behind bars, either by limiting who is sent to prison in the first place or by creating avenues to release people already in custody.

—Martha Paynter et al.

decarceration efforts/strategies/policies

the decarceration movement

Examples of decarceration in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

So how did crime fare under this period of concentrated decarceration? —Lyndsay Winkley, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Oct. 2023

Sonoma County saw violent and property crime increases associated with decarceration. —Lyndsay Winkley, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Oct. 2023

And decarceration and public-safety reform took on an immediate life-or-death dimension. —Elisa Lipsky-Karasz, WSJ, 17 Nov. 2020

There are two ways to reduce the risk of infections in correction facilities: mass decarceration, and vaccination. —Annalisa Merelli, Quartz, 12 Aug. 2021

In recent decades imprisonment rates have been falling, mainly because of successful crime reduction, though the decarceration movement has played a role. —Barry Latzer, WSJ, 2 Jan. 2022

Because of the high risk of contagion in overcrowded prisons, mass decarceration has been advocated by public health experts since the beginning of the pandemic, and has shown not to pose risks for the community, says Reinhart. —Annalisa Merelli, Quartz, 12 Aug. 2021

The authors provided eight policy recommendations for state officials, with decarceration strategies at the top of the list. —Alleen Brown, The New Republic, 1 July 2023

Reinhart said the findings support the consensus among public health experts that decarceration — or decreasing the number of inmates at jails, prisons and detention centers — should be implemented to protect the health of both inmates and the broader community. —Nara Schoenberg, chicagotribune.com, 11 May 2021

Word History

Etymology

de- + (in)carceration

First Known Use

1963, in the meaning defined above