Blog from the Justice Programs Office
This week in news: Read about the need to focus on women when considering criminal justice reform and the benefits of expunging records for those who have served their time, hear from JPO Director Ball on treatment courts, find out about Ohio’s new sentencing proposals for drug possession, and more.
March 18th marked the 56th anniversary of the landmark US Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainwright and National Public Defense Day. As a former investigator for the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, current project director of the Right to Counsel National Campaign, justice reform advocate, and American citizen, I am proud to celebrate the public defense community and the clients – which could be any of us – they represent. Continue reading “In Defense of Public Defense”
This week in news: public and private stakeholders discuss what comes next after passage of the First Step Act; the CDC releases the latest report on the opioid crisis; and youth justice issues make headlines at the National Conference on Juvenile Justice.
The Justice in Government Project is delighted to announce the release of our new Toolkit!
Continue reading “The Justice in Government Project Toolkit release”
This week in the news: the companies responsible for creating the opioid epidemic are under intense scrutiny to make depositions and documents of their activities public; lawmakers in Delaware announce major reforms; and more states join the Raise the Age movement.
What’s celebrated in March? In addition to St. Patrick’s Day, Women’s History Month, and National Criminal Justice Month, we also celebrate Social Work Month. In honor of the many contributions social work has made to treatment 
courts, I decided to highlight a person whose work is beneficial to the practices and procedures of treatment courts. Dr. Anne Dannerbeck Janku is an associate research professor at the University of Missouri. For almost two decades, she has conducted research on racial and ethnic disparities in treatment courts. Continue reading “A Social Work Professor Serves the Court”
Washington state enacts new regulations to tackle the opioid crisis; Nevada lawmakers call for an audit of the state’s juvenile justice system; and activists come together for the National Day of Empathy to talk criminal justice reform. Read about these stories and more with JPO’s news roundup.
Last week SPA co-sponsored Leadership in Action: Criminal Justice Reform, an event hosted by The Hill. I participated in the event, representing SPA, and gave remarks highlighting the overwhelming bipartisan support we saw last year when Congress passed the First Step Act. I followed the conversation when Congress was working on criminal justice reform, and while I’m glad all the talk on the Hill resulted in the passage of new legislations, I hope that the First Step Act is just that, a first step.
Continue reading “Step-by-Step – What more is needed in criminal justice reform”
University of Texas law students form a necessary Indigent Defense group; The FDA responds to criticisms of their role in the opioid crisis with a plan to curb addiction; and California’s juvenile justice facilities see a spike in violence. Read about these stories and more with JPO’s Friday News Roundup.