Rooted in history and the urgency of now, New Thinking talks to the people working to reform—or remake—the criminal legal system. It’s hosted by Matt Watkins.
Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell discusses how law enforcement leadership can promote new “smart” strategies–including community engagement and prevention-oriented diversion approaches–that can effectively and efficiently keep communities safe, address the symptoms and causes of criminal activity, and alleviate prison overcrowding. (August 2014)
In this New Thinking podcast, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer discusses his plans for community-based solutions to problems like truancy, gun violence, and prison overcrowding. (July 2014)
Miguel Samper Strouss, the vice-minister of criminal policy and restorative justice in the Colombian Ministry of Justice and Law, discusses the challenge of returning law and order--and trust in justice and government--to the rural regions of his country that have been devastated by 50 years of guerrilla fighting. (June 2014)
Timothy C. Evans, chief judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County in Illinois, explains how courts can help mitigate the collateral consequences of justice system involvement. Among other things, courts can reach out to those affected to educate them about their rights and options, Evans says in this New Thinking podcast.
Drug addiction is fundamentally a public health issue, says Michael Botticelli, acting director of National Drug Control Policy, in this New Thinking podcast.
The Stopping Hate and Delinquency by Empowering Students (SHADES) program is a teen court focusing on bullying and bias incidents. The program is run as a partnership of the Los Angeles Superior Court, Department of Probation, and the Museum of Tolerance. In this episode of New Thinking, David S. Wesley, presiding judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court, and Camilo Cruz, director of community relations for the Los Angeles Superior Court, discuss the unique features of the SHADES program.
Courts need to assess offenders for traumatic exposures so they can match them to effective services and improve treatment outcomes, says Kathleen West, an expert on trauma-informed care and lecturer at the University of California. In this New Thinking podcast, West discusses what we know about the impact of trauma on litigants and the justice system.
In this New Thinking podcast, Tracey L. Meares, the Walton Hale Hamilton Professor at Yale Law School, outlines the four components of procedural justice and their power to enhance perceptions of government legitimacy. She also discusses how procedural justice is incorporated into Chicago Offender Notification Forums, an anti-violence intervention that she helped design. (June 2014)
Professor Edward J. Latessa, director of the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati, discusses the importance of evidence-based practices and the challenges of implementing reform. (April 2014)
New York University Law School Professor James Jacobs, author of "The Eternal Criminal Record" (Harvard University Press), discusses the proliferation of electronic criminal records and the challenges they pose for a free society. (March 2015)
