New data released today by The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, with support from Arnold Ventures, reveals the startling extent to which probation and parole violations contribute to states’ high prison admissions and populations, as well as the subsequent cost to taxpayers.
Michael P. Boggs, a Georgia Supreme Court justice, has been appointed chair of The Council of State Governments Justice Center’s Advisory Board.
I arrived at the CSG Justice Center aware that the field of criminal justice has changed dramatically since our inception in 2007, presenting our organization and others with new challenges and exciting opportunities. As we entered our second decade, I felt that we first needed to be sure we understand who we are, what we stand for, and how we fit into this growing field.
At a recent North Dakota Justice Reinvestment Oversight Committee meeting, CSG Justice Center staff highlighted recent decreases in prison admissions that resulted from alcohol and drug offenses and probation revocations. These declines seem to be the cause of a 6.5-percent drop in the state’s total prison population in FY2018, which exceeded expectations, and have reinforced the state’s efforts to increase behavioral health services for people in the criminal justice system.
CSG Justice Center staff spoke with four Second Chance Act Innovations in Reentry Initiative grantees about their experiences fostering effective partnerships between criminal justice practitioners and the researchers evaluating their programs. These programs span the country and the justice system, serving clients within courts, prisons, jails, and in the community.
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This webinar, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, will explain how the Office of Justice Programs grant process works and focus on what applicants should understand when applying for funding.
![[Apply Now] Soros Justice Fellowships](https://csgjusticecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Open-Society-e1569609771843.jpg)
The fellowships fund outstanding individuals to undertake projects that advance reform, spur debate, and catalyze change on a range of issues facing the U.S. criminal justice system.
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Selected jurisdictions will receive intensive technical assistance and evaluation to examine their pretrial systems, understand their data, and design and implement research-based strategies that are responsive to local needs.
This webinar provides an overview of the intersection of mental illness and the criminal justice system; describes factors contributing to the need for cultural competency as it relates to people in the criminal justice system who have mental illnesses; identifies strategies and best practices that judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys can employ when working with people of diverse backgrounds who have mental illnesses.
The presenters of this webinar discuss overcoming the challenges to effective community engagement and explore ways to increase the number of juvenile record clearances.
This webinar explores ways that juvenile defenders and civil legal aid attorneys can partner to share expertise and provide essential legal representation for youth facing the collateral consequences of having criminal records.
This report from the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law describes the essential community mental health services that must be expanded to divert people with significant psychiatric disabilities from the criminal justice system.
This report offers a comprehensive review of the money that the criminal justice system takes from people accused or convicted of crimes that can add up to thousands of dollars over the course of a prison term.
This report examines how state legislatures across the country are passing laws to “raise the floor” by raising the minimum age at which a child could be prosecuted as an adult.
Here’s how it works: The program takes care of housing and food—things the women would normally need from their trafficker. Participants get treatment for trauma and addiction, and they are eligible to get their records expunged.
Part of DOJ’s Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program, the grant will pay salaries to allow a Memorial mental-health professional to be based in the jail and conduct assessments of inmates within a day or two after they are brought in by police.
Alabama law does not allow for changes to be applied retroactively; the people in prison who wouldn’t be sentenced the same way today for their crimes are basically out of luck.
The hearing I watched was held in what’s called a Matariki court – a hybrid Western-tribal proceeding. The Court was an initiative set up by the late Chief District Court Judge Russell Johnson, who was concerned about the rate of imprisonment of Māori people.