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Average Profiles
Sentencing policy and the criminal justice system as a whole are often discussed in the context of high-profile, extreme cases. However, most people do not commit high-profile and extreme crimes. To focus on the typical person who is arrested, convicted, and released from prison SPAC created a report called Average Profiles (formally referred to “Average Joes”). Average Profiles are snapshots of people grouped by various demographics and offenses at various stages of the criminal justice system. The snapshots are not meant to affect decisions in individual cases, nor are they descriptive of any one unique person. In each category, there are people who fall outside the average profile. Nonetheless, the recurring themes in terms of demographics, criminal history, and other data points are important for understanding our criminal justice policies.