In less than a decade, marijuana legalization has gone from unthinkable to seemingly unstoppable. This essay — written for a special issue on improving Arizona
— Read on papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm
Tag: Criminal Justice Reform
Citizens Crime Commission of New York City
Here’s a think tank on policing, they have several different types of resources available at it’s website.
Citizens Crime Commission of New York City
— Read on www.nycrimecommission.org/index.php
Forensic Science
REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT Forensic Science in Criminal Courts: Ensuring Scientific Validity of Feature-Comparison Methods
“Forensic science” has been defined as the application of scientific or technical practices to the recognition, collection, analysis, and interpretation of evidence for criminal and civil law or regulatory issues. Developments over the past two decades—including the exoneration of defendants who had been wrongfully convicted based in part on forensic-science evidence, a variety of studies of the scientific underpinnings of the forensic disciplines, reviews of expert testimony based on forensic findings, and scandals in state crime laboratories—have called increasing attention to the question of the validity and reliability of some important forms of forensic evidence and of testimony based upon them. Get a copy of the report HERE
Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward
The Senate Report also sets forth the charge to the Forensic Science Committee, instructing it to:
- assess the present and future resource needs of the forensic science community, to include State and local crime labs, medical examin-ers, and coroners;
- make recommendations for maximizing the use of forensic tech-nologies and techniques to solve crimes, investigate deaths, and protect the public;
- identify potential scientific advances that may assist law enforce-ment in using forensic technologies and techniques to protect the public;
- make recommendations for programs that will increase the number of qualified forensic scientists and medical examiners available to work in public crime laboratories;
- disseminate best practices and guidelines concerning the collection and analysis of forensic evidence to help ensure quality and con-sistency in the use of forensic technologies and techniques to solve crimes, investigate deaths, and protect the public;
- examine the role of the forensic community in the homeland secu-rity mission;
- [examine] interoperability of Automated Fingerprint Information Systems [AFIS]; and
- examine additional issues pertaining to forensic science as deter-mined by the Committee.
Get the Senate report HERE
Learned Helplessness, Criminalization, and Victimization in Vulnerable Youth | By Elizabeth Trejos-Castillo, Evangeline Lopoo, and Anamika Dwivedi (December 2020) – Square One Project
Learned Helplessness, Criminalization, and Victimization in Vulnerable Youth | By Elizabeth Trejos-Castillo, Evangeline Lopoo, and Anamika Dwivedi (December 2020) – Square One Project
— Read on squareonejustice.org/paper/learned-helplessness-criminalization-and-victimization-in-vulnerable-youth-by-elizabeth-trejos-castillo-evangeline-lopoo-and-anamika-dwivedi-december-2020/
Reforming Youth Justice: The Next Frontier | The Crime Report
There is a lot of information available here. Take some time to sift through all of it.
Young People in Peril
Reporting on the Impact of Today’s Health, Economic and Social Crises on Youth Justice Reform
An five-part webinar series October 22-November 12, 2020
— Read on thecrimereport.org/reforming-youth-justice-the-next-frontier/
President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice
President Trump signed an executive order to establish the Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice – the first commission on law enforcement in half a century.
Access the website HERE
Implementation Guide for Prosecutorial Performance Indicators
Changes in prosecution are essential to criminal justice reform, but prosecutors have rarely had the data they need to define success beyond conviction rates. To address this problem, criminologists from Florida International University and Loyola University Chicago partnered with prosecutor’s offices from Chicago, Milwaukee, Jacksonville, and Tampa to develop a menu of 55 prosecutorial performance indicators (PPIs) and redefine success for prosecutors. This guide provides step-by-step instructions for choosing and implementing specific PPIs.
Building Safe, Thriving Communities Research-Based Strategies for Public Safety
Decades of harsh, carceral law enforcement practices have perpetuated cycles of violence and harm without making us safer. The number of individuals behind bars—particularly for low-level offenses—is not a measure of public safety, and in fact has tremendous costs and consequences that detract from the goal of creating healthy, stable communities. Progress toward this goal requires transformational change in the way we approach law enforcement practices, specifically in the fields of policing, prosecution, and sentencing. We cannot continue to use incarceration as our default solution. All over the country, law enforcement officials, prosecutors, and lawmakers are reducing their reliance on enforcement and incarceration, and are instead implementing practices and policies that focus on reinvestment, research-based strategies, and community engagement.
The article can be access HERE
Incoming Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón Promises Criminal Justice Reform – KQED
Nearly 20 years ago George Gascon was the deputy chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. This month he was elected as the city’s new district attorney overcoming fierce opposition from law enforcement groups. Gascon, the former district attorney and police chief of San Francisco, campaigned on a platform of criminal justice reform, including a promise to stop prosecuting children as adults, not seeking the death penalty and possibly reopening investigations into fatal shootings by police officers. We’ll talk to Gascon about his ideas for reform and his close election, defeating LA’s first Black district attorney partly by galvanizing the support of Black Lives Matter activists.
— Read on www.kqed.org/forum/2010101880966/incoming-los-angeles-district-attorney-george-gascon-promises-criminal-justice-reform
We Can’t Be Free Until We Fully Abolish Slavery – The Appeal
Through a loophole in the 13th Amendment, governments and corporations profit from cheap, incarcerated labor.
— Read on theappeal.org/13th-amendment-abolish-slavery/
Future of Policing 