The Center for Justice Innovation—and our operating programs—are regularly featured in the media. Here is a sampling of the press coverage of our work.
New York City’s jail population is close to reaching pre-pandemic levels. The Appeal reports, "The city’s jail population, now over 4,700, is largely the result of a growing number of people held awaiting trial. According to a recent report by the Center for Court Innovation, between the end of April, when the city took emergency COVID-related decarceration measures, and Nov. 1, the pretrial population incarcerated in city jails has increased by more than 28 percent."
Brooklyn organizations, including our Save Our Streets team, came together to flood their communities with resources and access to quality programming to help combat a recent uptick in violence in the neighborhood and surrounding area.
The pretrial jail population in New York City has increased by nearly 16 percent since July, when the state amended a previously passed bail reform measure, reports the Hill. The article cites our study, which predicted the same percentage increase and found that under the amended law, 84 percent of total cases remain ineligible for bail.
"We need a vision of a better society: a future grounded in love, justice, accountability, a future grounded in safety and good health," Ashish Prashar makes the argument against incarceration and includes our Red Hook Community Justice Center and Harlem Community Justice Center as examples of successful restorative justice programs.
All five of New York City’s District Attorneys came together to write a joint letter arguing that unless funding for Project Reset is renewed, the program will be eliminated in most of the city. The program, currently offered in all boroughs and to all ages, provides a proportionate and meaningful response to low-level offenses to offer people a second chance.
Emily Bazelon, author and journalist, joins Brian Lehrer to talk about the policy and the politics around the use of restorative justice in schools and in courtrooms, looking to our Red Hook Community Justice Center and our Restorative Justice in Schools program as examples.
Wesleyan alumni and community leaders, including our director of policy and research Julian Adler, discussed the the intersection of criminal justice and the 2020 election. The panelists discussed a wide range of issues, including harnessing the decarceral moment driven by coronavirus and the power of students and young people to affect change.
When New York's bail reform took effect in January, it meant people wouldn't be behind bars because they couldn't afford their freedom. Some judges are skirting the intent of that law by setting alternative forms of bail, like partially secured bonds (PSB), at significantly higher rates. Our Krystal Rodriguez explains the intent behind PSBs.
Krystal Rodriguez, co-author of our study, Bail Reform Revisited, presented in a webinar series with the Center on Media, Crime and Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice to explore the impact of the 2019 bail reform bill and its 2020 amendments on the culture of pretrial incarceration during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in New York.
Darcel Clark, Eric Gonzalez, Melinda Katz, Michael Mcmahon And Cy Vance—the district attorneys representing all five boroughs in New York City—came together to write their support of Project Reset, a criminal diversion effort, which is at-risk of losing funding if the city does not renew the program by September 30.
