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Publications & Digital Media

Format
  • Publication

    ​Population Review Teams: Evaluating Jail Reduction and Racial Disparities Across Three Jurisdictions

    by Joanna Weill, Amanda Cissner, and Sruthi Naraharisetti

    Currently implemented in more than a dozen cities around the country, jail Population Review Teams (PRTs) are one strategy to reduce jail populations. Funded by the Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC) and with guidance from ISLG, the Center for Court Innovation conducted a quantitative research study of the PRT model and its impacts in three sites through the spring of 2020: Lucas County, Ohio; Pima County, Arizona; and St. Louis County, Missouri.

    Addressing Racial Disparities, Procedural Justice
  • Audio

    Why Data Doesn't Stick

    by Matt Watkins

    Efforts to reform the justice system—including our own—often tout they're "evidence-based" or "data-driven." But at a moment when a pandemic-era spike in crime seems to have put the reform movement on its heels, New Thinking asks: why do arguments based on data rarely seem to win the day? Christina Greer and John Pfaff—two scholars working at the intersection of data and politics—explain.

    Addressing Racial Disparities, Bail Reform, Evidence-Based Practices, Reducing Trauma
  • Publication

    Restorative Justice in NYC Schools: An Evaluation

    by Lama Hassoun Ayoub, Lina Villegas, Elise Jensen, and Andrew Martinez

    Many schools have adopted a form of restorative justice, but there are few rigorous evaluations of its effects. Our study of an ambitious project in a handful of New York City schools returned a mixed result: widespread perceptions of an improved school climate, but little movement in our primary metric—the use of suspensions. Should future researchers prioritize outcomes more aligned with restorative justice's overall goals?

    Addressing Racial Disparities, Restorative Justice, Youth Initiatives
  • Publication

    The Will to Decarcerate: COVID-19 and NYC's Early Release Program

    by Andrew Martinez, Joanna Weill, Lina Villegas, Camille Wada, Michael Rempel, and Tia Pooler

    Where the political will exists, jail populations can be reduced swiftly and humanely. That is the primary lesson to emerge from our study of New York City’s Early Release Program. Quickly constructed as the pandemic first hit Rikers Island in March 2020, the program helped drive the city's jail population to its lowest level in 75 years. With the curtailment of those efforts, the population has since increased by 60 percent.

    Addressing Racial Disparities, Diversion, Reducing Trauma
  • Publication

    Advancing Racial Equity: Shrinking Misdemeanor Prosecution in New York

    by Fred Butcher, Michael Rempel, and Krystal Rodriguez

    Our analysis of New York City misdemeanor cases shows the system rarely results in criminal convictions but inflicts "process is punishment" effects as people experience arrest, detention, and daylong waits for brief court appearances. We also found stark racial disparities in who is prosecuted. Following from our findings, we offer statewide legislative recommendations for shrinking misdemeanor prosecution.

    Addressing Racial Disparities, Diversion
  • Audio

    The Question of Dirty Work

    by Matt Watkins

    Eyal Press contends there are entire areas of life we've delegated to "dirty workers"—functions we've declared necessary, but that we strive to keep hidden. In his new book, Press points to the transformation of jails and prisons into the country's largest mental health institutions. He calls the people struggling to offer treatment in those settings "dirty workers"—not because their work isn't noble, but because collectively we've put them in a situation where it's impossible to practice ethical care.

    Addressing Racial Disparities, Reducing Trauma
  • Publication

    Learning from Crisis: Remote Justice in Criminal Courts

    by Michael Rempel, Melissa Morgan, Sherene Crawford, and Jethro Antoine

    With the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, courts across the country shifted urgently to remote, rather than in-person, operations. It amounted to an unprecedented large-scale experiment. As courts prepare for a post-pandemic future, we looked in depth at both the harms of remote justice and at which practices might be worth continuing, with the overall goal of promoting fairness and equity.

    Access to Justice, Addressing Racial Disparities, Technology
  • Audio

    The Crisis on Rikers Island

    by Matt Watkins

    On New Thinking, an audio snapshot from an emergency rally demanding immediate measures to release people from New York City’s Rikers Island jail facility. Fourteen people have died in the custody of the city’s jail system this year as the chief medical officer for NYC Jails warns of “a collapse in basic jail operations.”

    Addressing Racial Disparities, Bail Reform, Diversion
  • Publication

    Closing Rikers Island: A Roadmap for Reducing Jail in New York City

    by Michael Rempel, Krystal Rodriguez, Tyler Nims, Joanna Weill, Madison Volpe, and Zachary Katznelson

    New York City's promise to shutter its notorious Rikers Island jail complex hinges on reducing the number of people in city jails—the overwhelming majority held awaiting trial. This report from the Independent Commission that called for Rikers' closure in 2017 and the Center for Court Innovation lays out a series of concrete, data-driven strategies to produce sizable jail reductions while prioritizing public safety.

    Addressing Racial Disparities, Bail Reform, Diversion
  • Audio

    The Cycle: Police Violence, Black Rebellion

    by Matt Watkins

    In her new book, historian Elizabeth Hinton highlights a "crucible period" of often violent rebellions in the name of the Black freedom struggle beginning in 1968. Initiated in almost every instance by police violence, the rebellions—dismissed as "riots"—have been largely written out of the history of the civil rights era. Hinton contends the period is critical for understanding the roots of mass incarceration and contains important lessons today for people organizing against police violence.

    Addressing Racial Disparities, Reducing Violence

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