DRUG-INDUCED HOMICIDE

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The Issue:

Under pressure to respond to the nation’s fatal overdose crisis, prosecutors are increasingly treating accidental overdose deaths as homicides. Our data analysis has found that the incidence of these prosecutions is particularly high in the midwest and northeast regions of the United States.

We compiled news reports of “drug-induced homicide” (DIH) prosecutions nationwide, using big data analytics tools. In contrast to the stated intent to target major drug traffickers, our preliminary analysis found that a majority of prosecutions are being brought against individuals who are either low-level dealers, or are friends, family, and co-users of the overdose decedent.

There is no systematic empirical evidence that DIH prosecutions slow the sale of illegal drugs. On the contrary, they may well be counterproductive. Running at cross-purposes to 9-1-1 Good Samaritan laws, DIH prosecutions discourage witnesses to overdoses from calling 9-1-1 for fear that they will be arrested and charged with DIH or other serious crimes. For those who are incarcerated and suffer from opioid addiction, there is an exponentially increased likelihood of death from overdose during the first weeks after release.

What We Are Doing

KNOWLEDGE GENERATION

Gathering data on drug induced homicide cases by systematically collecting media stories since 2000

Filtering data to ensure only drug induced homicide level prosecutions are accounted for

Aggregating state DIH statutes to map the legal landscape

Modeling the impact of DIH prosecutions and laws on health and safety outcomes

Identifying new and proposed DIH legislation nationwide

TRANSLATION

Educating lawmakers about empirical and doctrinal implications of the DIH approach

Articulating policy alternatives to drug induced homicide, such as strengthening Good Samaritan policies

Using evidence to inform current litigation, including filing court memos and briefs

IMPLEMENTATION

Developing a toolkit for defense attorneys

Disseminating the toolkit directly to defense teams working on DIH cases, including trainings

Raising awareness about trends and implications of DIH prosecutions

Bringing attention to convicted DIH cases and post-conviction relief opportunities

Data Dashboard

Methods:

HIJ Action Lab collaborates with Media Cloud in analyzing media infosphere for mentions of drug-induced homicide and similar prosecutions. We then code these prosecutions based on various demographic and other characteristics, and run basic summary statistics.

*An older version of the data set used a web scraping algorithm to identify these cases.

See Full Tableau Public Links Here: DIH Charges by Year (1974-2018), DIH Charges by State (1974-2018), DIH Charges by State Map (1974-2018), Sentences for DIH Charges Over Time (2008-2018), Median Sentencing By Race (2008-2018)

Previous Investigations

Methods:

HIJ Action Lab has hand-coded a random subsample of online media articles for detailed information about relationships between individuals accused of drug-induced homicide and those who are deceased. We are in the process of calibrating our web-scraping algorithm to automate this process.