Just How Bad? The Nature & Extent of Health Inequities for People in the U.S. Criminal Legal System

A Discussion with Emily Widra, Leo Beletsky, and Katie McCreedy

The introductory session to the Diagnosis of Incarceration speaker series will examine the depth and breadth of health inequities faced by individuals in the U.S. criminal legal system and how organizations across the country have attempted to capture the scope of this issue. We will scrutinize the extent to which these measures may or may not accurately reflect the realities of life inside the system. In an attempt to address critical gaps in understanding, we will seek to identify what remains uncharted about the full impact of incarceration on health, highlight the limitations of current assessments, and discuss the implications for future policy and practice.

Speakers:

Emily Widra (she/her) is a Senior Research Analyst at the non-profit Prison Policy Initiative, where she oversees the organization's work on health and mass incarceration, including publications on the COVID-19 pandemic, medication assisted treatment, and HIV in prisons and jails. She graduated with her masters in social work in 2017 from Smith College and is a licensed clinical social worker with extensive experience working in healthcare settings.

Leo Beletsky is Professor of Law and Health Sciences at Northeastern University and Faculty Director of The Action Lab at the Center for Health Policy and Law. His expertise is in the public health impact of laws and their enforcement, with a special focus on drug overdose, infectious disease transmission, and criminal justice reform through a public health lens. Throughout his career, Professor Beletsky has applied his skills and expertise in service to governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations, including the United Nations, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and the City of New York.

Katie McCreedy graduated summa cum laude with a BS in Health Science & Master’s in Public Health from Northeastern in 2022. She is an accelerated-entry PhD student in Northeastern’s Population Health Sciences program concentrating in epidemiology and biostatistics with Leo Beletsky as her advisor. At the Lab, she leads quantitative and qualitative analysis projects, literature reviews, and policy advocacy. She specializes in translating research into engaging advocacy tools. Her interests include harm reduction policies and reducing the stigma surrounding the overdose crisis.

This event was recorded on September 18, 2024.

The Diagnosis of Incarceration speaker series is moderated and organized by Kennedy School MPA Candidate Dr. Cara Muñoz Buchanan, in collaboration with Katy Naples-Mitchell, Program Director of the Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management, and Sandra Susan Smith, Guggenheim Professor of Criminal Justice; Faculty Director, Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management; Director, Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy; Professor of Sociology; and Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor at the Radcliffe Institute.

Links to resources mentioned during the discussion can be found on our website: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/w...