Date of Award
5-2022
Degree Type
Honors College Thesis
Academic Program
Economics BA
Department
Economic and Workforce Development
First Advisor
Mehdi Barati, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Bridget Hayden, Ph.D.
Third Advisor
Sabine Heinhorst, Ph.D.
Advisor Department
Economic and Workforce Development
Abstract
The state of Mississippi’s historically high incarceration rate peaked in the year 2013, when it was the second highest nationwide. To combat this problem, House Bill 585 was passed into law in 2014. The law consisted of multiple reforms, which were part of an effort to toughen sentencing for violent offenders and reduce severity of punishment for non-violent criminals, with the aim of reducing incarceration and refocusing prison space for violent crimes. I employed difference in differences and synthetic control methododologies to examine the effects of House Bill 585 on crime and imprisonment rates. My results revealed that House Bill 585 caused an initial sharp decline in imprisonment rate, but the effect wore off as time progressed. The impact of House Bill 585 on violent crime was insignificant at all levels, and the law led to an increase in property crime rate, which also became less significant over time.
Keywords: Mississippi, crime, incarceration , House Bill 585
Copyright
Copyright for this thesis is owned by the author. It may be freely accessed by all users. However, any reuse or reproduction not covered by the exceptions of the Fair Use or Educational Use clauses of U.S. Copyright Law or without permission of the copyright holder may be a violation of federal law. Contact the administrator if you have additional questions.
Recommended Citation
Flammia, Madisyn, "Mississippi Crime and Corrections: The Effects of House Bill 585 on Crime and Incarceration Rates" (2022). Honors Theses. 842.
https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/842