Center for Court Innovation director Greg Berman discusses 25 years of the Center's work with Dutch organization de Rechtspraak as we continue to "push, poke, and prod the justice system to be more effective and more humane." Interview available courtesy of de Rechtspraak. (See also video of Berman's candid Q & A with Center alum Chris Watler reflecting on his quarter-century tenure.)
Legislation like the recent New York State justicereforms 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.
NBC Nightly News visits Newark Youth Court, where young people serve as judge and jury for low-level cases involving their peers. Cases result in real sentences that foster accountability and provide young people the help needed to avoid further involvement in the justice system.
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.
The Red Hook Community Justice Center occupies "a unique space as both a community center and a court.” From youth court to peacemaking, BKLYNER profiles our Brooklyn community court and its work reducing both incarceration and crime.
A new study shows judges in New York City have drastically reduced their use of bail and jail, and that's without any changes to the law. The Marshall Project highlights the importance of shifts in culture and practice and the availability of bail alternatives like supervised release.
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.
At a panel on bail reform in Brooklyn, Krystal Rodriguez, the associate director of jail reform for the Center for Court Innovation, spoke about jail reduction strategies, including Supervised Release, and reforms happening throughout the borough.
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.
