The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/reforming-the-system/)
North Dakota, Colorado, and Idaho are the newest states accepted into the “Restoring Promise” program piloted by the Vera Institute of Justice. The program is modeled on incarceration strategies used in Europe that provide less rigid environments for young offenders.
Proposals to ban sales of menthol cigarettes are the latest examples of a misplaced focus on creating criminal penalties that waste police time, harm minority communities, and detract law enforcement attention from crimes that actually put people’s safety at risk, say R Street researchers.
A new draft study says the federal-Pew Charitable Trusts justice reinvestment program hasn’t done much to reduce prison populations. Its former head told a criminology meeting this month it was a case of “reform meeting reality.”
A study of three Georgia cities which earn over 10 percent of their revenue from municipal citations and traffic tickets found high levels of distrust of authority among residents. The lesson, according to researchers: what a city gains in monetary value is lost in community capital.
The election of Chesa Boudin has increased the ranks of prosecutors determined to remake the justice system. But the movement is running into a countervailing force by more traditional players who fear “progressives” will endanger public safety.
The record-setting $1 million-plus judgment last week against a Queens, NY developer who refused to rent to individuals with criminal records was a wake-up call to landlords across the nation who practice such “blanket bans,” writes the CEO of the Fortune Society.
A University of Georgia theatrical performance, “By Our Hands,” aims to spark a dialogue about incarceration and prison reform through art. Among the writers, composers, and choreographers are young incarcerated students.
Alternatives to arrest are now widely available across the U.S. to justice-involved individuals who pose no risk to public safety. But a new survey shows that how they are implemented and who benefits from them can depend on a “stunning variety” of state statutes and practices.
“When you take away a person’s license, you kind of take away their ability to provide for their family,” says Matt Holland, one of the staggering number of Americans who are penalized because they can’t afford to pay their court costs.
As Domestic Violence Awareness Month drew to a close in October, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to explore reimbursing the cost of forensic tests for DV survivors. That’s a critical step forward towards addressing a rising problem in California, and elsewhere.