Blog from the Justice Programs Office
This week in the news: Missouri’s new Supreme Court chief justice says our public defender system needs to be sufficiently funded and staffed for the system to work; bail reform in New York; a look at problem-solving and veterans treatment courts; and more.
Continue reading “In Support of a Sufficiently Funded Public Defender System”
The upcoming presidential election, the 25th anniversary of the federal 1994 crime bill, and the enactment of the First Step Act, have rekindled the national debate on the urgent need for criminal justice reform at the federal level.
But much of the work to reform the criminal justice system is happening at the state and local level. State prisons house 1.3 million of the 2.3 million people confined nationwide (88% at the state level and 12% at the federal level); and that population is disproportionately people of color. However, state courts are finding that the mass incarceration model is expensive and does little to enhance public safety or reduce crime.
Continue reading “New Assessment Tool Aims to Help Treatment Courts Identify Racial Bias”