Criminal Justice Reform Archives

When Children Commit Atrocities

Crimes that tear at our hearts are also opportunities to forgive

January 5, 2022 • by Harold Pollack

A member of my own family was beaten to death by a high school student. That boy is now a man. He walks the streets today. I believe justice has been served....

Feature

Raising the Age in New York City

The Story Thus Far

May 26, 2019 • by Julia L. Davis

Last Oct. 1, New York State’s “Raise the Age” (RTA) provisions took effect for 16-year-olds statewide. Designed to end the presumptive criminal prosecution and confinement of 16- and 17-year-olds as adults, RTA brought New York into line with 48 other states. Only North Carolina persists in making 16 the default ...

Feature

What Criminal Justice Reformers Can Learn from the Green New Deal

The political inequalities reinforced by American criminal law require a transformative approach

May 16, 2019 • by Seth Mayer

The decline of America’s democratic institutions has emerged as a central issue in contemporary American politics. In response to voter suppression, manipulation through campaign finance, and foreign interference in elections, Democrats have proposed sweeping reforms to improve electoral integrity and accountability. With the For the People Act, for example, legislators proposed to improve ballot access, ...

What Criminal Justice Reformers Can Learn from the Green New Deal

Feature

Seeing Rikers, Closing Rikers

Making Incarceration Visible

April 11, 2017 • by Julia Foulkes

A year ago the New School hosted the opening of States of Incarceration, an exhibition created by hundreds of students and people directly affected by incarceration. Organized through the Humanities Action Lab, a consortium of 20 universities, the exhibition details the history of imprisonment in the U.S by a close ...