Reforming Criminal Justice Volume 1: Introduction and Criminalization

Reforming Criminal Justice is a four-volume report meant to enlighten reform efforts in the United States with the research and analysis of leading academics. Broken down into individual chapters—each authored by a top scholar in the relevant field—the report covers dozens of topics within the areas of criminalization, policing, pretrial and trial processes, punishment, incarceration, and release.

The United States is now waking up to the fact that Indigenous Peoples have been oppressed by the dominant (non-Indigenous) culture for centuries. This oppression continues today and has led to a national and international crisis involving missing and murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP).

Non-prosecution practices and policies have long been informally part of the fabric of the American criminal justice system, and more formal programs created by prosecutors have proliferated in modern times with growing and justified concerns about mass incarceration and mass punishment.

The Academy for Justice recently had the opportunity to work with an incoming District Attorney to formulate two best practice guides seeking to identify next steps, as well as potential pitfalls to avoid, on two specific topics based on available research.

On September 14, 2021, a letter was delivered to President Joe Biden requesting a general pardon to all persons subject to federal criminal or civil enforcement on the basis of a nonviolent marijuana offense.

Reforming Criminal Justice is a four-volume report meant to enlighten reform efforts in the United States with the research and analysis of leading academics. Broken down into individual chapters—each authored by a top scholar in the relevant field—the report covers dozens of topics within the areas of criminalization, policing, pretrial and trial processes, punishment, incarceration, and release. T

Reforming Criminal Justice is a four-volume report meant to enlighten reform efforts in the United States with the research and analysis of leading academics. Broken down into individual chapters—each authored by a top scholar in the relevant field—the report covers dozens of topics within the areas of criminalization, policing, pretrial and trial processes, punishment, incarceration, and release.

Reforming Criminal Justice is a four-volume report meant to enlighten reform efforts in the United States with the research and analysis of leading academics. Broken down into individual chapters—each authored by a top scholar in the relevant field—the report covers dozens of topics within the areas of criminalization, policing, pretrial and trial processes, punishment, incarceration, and release.

A book talk with the author of Junk Science and the American Criminal Justice System, M. Chris Fabricant, Director of Strategic Litigation at the Innocence Project and one of the nation’s leading experts on forensic sciences and the criminal justice system.

Criminal laws are the rules and prohibitions—typically drafted by legislators and codified in criminal statutes—that tell us how to behave if we want to avoid state-sanctioned punishment. Crimes are acts that violate these laws.