Works In Progress

Do Free Phone Calls Reduce Jail Time? (with Ryan Longmuir)

We study the impact of eliminating or reducing the cost of jail phone calls on jail time. Phone access plays a critical role in early case resolution, yet its high cost often limits communication with legal counsel and loved ones. We exploit policy changes in several states that substantially reduced or eliminated fully the price of jail calls to estimate causal effects on time spent in jail. Using individual-level jail booking data, our preliminary findings are that average jail spells fell by between 7 and 10 days following the policy. We find that incarcerated individuals are highly price-sensitive to the cost of phone calls. Our findings suggest that reducing communication frictions at early stages of the criminal justice system can generate large cost savings and meaningful liberty gains, particularly for low-level detainees. This paper is the first to estimate the effect of jail phone call policies on detention length, contributing new evidence on the collateral consequences of carceral financial barriers and administrative frictions.

Peer Effects and Criminal Capital Transmission: Evidence from Cell-Level Incarceration Data

This project examines peer effects in carceral settings using detailed cell-level administrative data from a large sample of incarceration facilities. While prior work has documented peer effects within correctional institutions, most studies rely on facility-level exposure measures that may mask critical within-facility heterogeneity. By leveraging fine-grained data on cell assignments and movements over time, we provide new evidence on the role of proximate peer exposure in shaping recidivism outcomes. My design builds on the empirical strategy of Bayer, Hjalmarsson, and Pozen (2009), extending it with more precise measures of co-residence and contact intensity. It also improves on existing exposure metrics, by tracking the spatial and temporal granularity of peer interactions within facilities.