New York Times Joins Advocates in Opposing Costly Jail Telephone Calls

The New York Times lent its voice to a growing advocacy effort combating exorbitant telephone call fees from jail, from which many municipalities, including Cook County, generate considerable revenue. Spurred in part by the Prison Policy Initiative's latest report, "The Price to Call Home: State-Sa...
September 24, 2012

Study Reveals Police Frustration with California Diversion Law

A study of Orange County police officers reveals frustration with the state's policy of offering drug offenders treatment in lieu of incarceration. Published in the Criminal Justice Police Review, the study, "'An Absolute Revolving Door': An Evaluation of Police Perception and response to Prop 36" (...
September 20, 2012

Links of Interest: August 27-31, 2012

Elections and Judicial Performance Election Law Blog analyzes the decision holding that Texas' Voter ID law violates the Voting Rights Act. Gavel To Gavel provides a comprehensive overview of Florida's proposed merit selection amendment. Criminal Justice Sentencing Law and Policy drew our a...
August 31, 2012

“A Thousand Small Sanities” and Why Judges Matter

"A Thousand Small Sanities" is worth a look for anyone interested in learning about rational, incremental criminal justice system reform. It's a succinct, straightforward history of criminal justice reform in New York City. In Small Sanities, the Center for Court Innovation Director Greg Berman writ...
August 29, 2012

Policy Brief: Early Criminal Case Assessment in Urban Jurisdictions

Chicago Appleseed is pleased to release a policy brief discussing the use of early prosecutorial review of drug cases in Philadelphia, PA and Brooklyn, NY--and implications for Cook County. You can find this brief and all of our latest criminal justice policy research at our Criminal Justice page....
August 28, 2012