Public defense attorneys have a crucial role to play in addressing racial inequities in the justice system, while often feeling the effects of those inequities themselves. This report—based on a survey of 690 public defense attorneys from across the country—aims to inspire deeper reflection within public defense agencies by shedding light on how attorneys think about their role in combating racial injustice and the impact of their own identities on their work.
"How can we best serve those who have served us and are coming through our court system?" That question was at the center of the two-day Veterans Treatment Court Summit our Recovery and Reform team hosted at the National Veterans Resource Center in Syracuse, New York. The summit brought together more than 100 practitioners from across the country—including judges, attorneys, mentors, and more—to connect, collaborate, and learn from each other's experiences bringing support to veterans in the criminal justice system.
Technology is not an excuse for ducking the hard problem of values. When it comes to the use of artificial intelligence in the justice space, we can't ignore the histories of risk assessment and electronic monitoring. With the adoption of AI already underway in criminal legal systems, the time is now for humans—not machines—to ask: What do we want to use AI for?
Watch as Basaime Spate and Javonte Alexander, co-directors of the cutting-edge new Street Action Network, take part in a candid discussion with New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams about their experiences growing up as Black men in New York City, why they care so deeply about ending gun violence, and how government and communities can work together to improve the health and safety of all New Yorkers.
Despite the obvious need, most mental health interventions for court-involved people are brief and conducted inside the counter-therapeutic confines of the criminal legal system. The challenge for practitioners is making those encounters meaningful. Little research speaks to this reality. Our publication presents the highlights of a national convening we hosted to begin to fill the gap.
Modern criminal justice reforms have called for the use of risk-need-responsivity (RNR) theory to help reduce the inherent subjectivity in case processing. Yet there is growing concern over racial bias and misclassification in risk assessment. This research-based module dives deep into the origins and core principles of RNR and its inherent limitations.
In an effort to help practitioners consider the implications of applying Risk-Need-Responsitivy (RNR) principles and learn how to effectively administer risk-need tools, the Center developed the training series, Administering the Criminal Court Assessment Tool.
In recent years, justice reform efforts have included the use of risk assessments to inform pretrial decision-making and minimize subjective bias. However, risk-need tools must be used in a targeted way that reduces detention, identifies salient needs, and alleviates racial disparities. This guidesheet offers strategies for implementing the Criminal Court Assessment Tool (CCAT) to help mitigate bias and create positive case outcomes.
What would it mean to decriminalize mental health—to stop criminalizing the symptoms of what is very often untreated mental illness? And what would it mean to put racial justice at the center of that effort? The outcomes of the criminal legal system being what they are, those two questions are really one. Hear a lively discussion on our New Thinking podcast.
Governments across the country are shoring up responses to crime, rather than minimizing the need for these responses in the first place. Highlighting recent research and encouraging examples of innovation, this policy brief makes the case that community safety is part of community justice, and that public safety investment needs to be expanded "upstream," beyond the boundaries of the criminal legal system.
