Diversion News Archive

How does a radical idea become policy? And what can we take from the achievements of the campaign to close New York City's notorious Rikers Island jail facility that might help us confront other problems? In the Daily News, our director, Greg Berman, reflects on a landmark day in New York City criminal justice reform.

People arrested for low-level crimes in Brooklyn are getting a chance to avoid the court system if they participate in an art course offered by our Project Reset. A a two-hour class at the Brooklyn Museum helps them reflect on justice and accountability.

Project Reset's goal is “ending a criminal justice system that turns minor offenses, minor crimes into lifelong problems,” New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said at an event at the Brooklyn Museum that marked the citywide expansion of the program.

Project Reset expands to all of Brooklyn in partnership with the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office and the Brooklyn Museum. Our program allows people arrested for low-level offenses to participate in an art course and avoid court and a criminal record.

Legislation like the recent New York State justice reforms is a powerful tool, but it's no magic bullet. As former New York Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman and our director, Greg Berman, argue, lasting change also requires the slow grind of transforming practice and culture.

With significant reforms aimed at reducing the harms of the justice system passed in New York State, Adam Mansky, our director of criminal justice, outlines three of our programs already in place that also represent a positive vision of what justice can look like.

We all know what's wrong with the criminal justice system (fairness and humanity are often in short supply). Drawing from our work, our director, Greg Berman, describes some community-based solutions—like violence interruption, trauma-informed care for the justice-involved, and social workers rather than bail or detention pretrial—that are already making a difference.

We all want safe neighborhoods, argues our Greg Berman in this op-ed, but the way we treat many people arrested for low-level offenses does more harm than good. Berman offers New York City as a potential model for other jurisdictions looking to reform low-level justice.

The Vera Institute of Justice named our book, Start Here: A Road Map to Reducing Incarceration, and two of our New Thinking podcast episodes—one from its Prosecutor Power series, and an audio portrait of our program working with young men of color—to its Best of 2018 justice reform list.

Writing in USA Today, former New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman argues that incarceration isn't appropriate for everyone, including some violent offenders, and he cites our Brooklyn Mental Health Court as a model alternative.