Blog from the Justice Programs Office
This week in the news: Read what one woman is doing to help the drug and family wellness court community, how Seattle is addressing the ‘war on drugs’, how two overworked public defenders and six judges ending up giving a life sentence and more top headlines in criminal justice.
This week in the news: Read the latest headlines about the dire need for public defense reform, justice proposals from 2020 presidential candidates, life inside a prison plagued by violence, and more.
I first learned about the concept of procedural fairness within justice systems in the early 2000s while working at the Department of Justice. The concept seems quite intuitive to me yet when observing court practices, I was struck by how many courts don’t naturally incorporate the elements of procedural fairness into their daily work.
Continue reading “Effective Counsel Leading to Procedural Fairness”
This week in the news: Read about restoring voting rights in Louisiana and Florida, a prosecutor sends her staff to #VisitAPrison, Sacramento bail reform, a mother who is penalized for seeking drug treatment while pregnant, and more.
‘Hey Matt, what does the research say about [X]?’
I relish this question, because I love helping practitioners turn research data into something they can apply to their courts. It’s my favorite part of my job.
Continue reading “Innovation to Research – Why Court Teams Shouldn’t Be Afraid to Try New Solutions”
This week in the news: Trafficking survivor Cyntoia Brown gets early release, data says crime and incarceration are both declining across the US, a relentless jailhouse lawyer fights for trial reform, Kent Williams reunites with his family, and more.
On August 26th Women’s Equality Day is celebrated. Initially chosen in commemoration of the passing of the 19th Amendment that enshrined a woman’s right to vote, Women’s Equality Day has become a yearly celebration of the history of woman’s suffrage as well as a “pledge to continue fighting for equality for women and girls.”[i] In respect of that, this month’s blog post covers some of the issues women face in their experiences within treatment courts.
This week in the news: Read about historic bail reform in Texas, how New York homelessness reform might not be what it seems, a public defender who has worked nearly 4,000 cases in the last five years, an opinion piece on how the justice system mistreats survivors of trafficking, and more.