News

Last month, we were privileged to partner with the Duke Justice Project, Duke’s undergraduate group focused on advancing criminal justice, to host a screening and talkback of HBO’s The Alabama Solution. The film exposes abuses and neglect in Alabama’s prison system, including beatings and deaths in custody, rampant drug use, lack of adequate resources, and […]

Users can explore two decades of life sentences in the United States The Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke University School of Law has released a groundbreaking new public resource: the Life Sentences Dashboard, a comprehensive, interactive platform bringing together decades of national data on life imprisonment in the United States. The dashboard […]

New gift renews Wilson’s commitment, allowing the Center to continue and expand its work in creating a safer and fairer criminal legal system The Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law School has received a $5 million gift from Derek Wilson ’86, M.B.A. ’90, P’15 and the Wilson Foundation. This new commitment renews […]

We are proud to present our 2024-2025 annual report, a testament to an extraordinary year of progress. Our research, policy initiatives, and collaborations continue to shape national and local conversations and practices in the criminal justice system. Our team has advanced projects at the intersection of science, law, and policy, with new studies and tools […]

Report analyzes first 18 months of implementation, highlights data patterns and limitations The Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law has released Evaluation of Fayetteville’s ShotSpotter Installation: Results from the First 18 Months, an independent analysis of the gunshot detection system’s use in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The report was commissioned by the City […]

Illuminating Court Debt and Driver’s License Suspensions Across North Carolina The Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law School has released a new public dashboard offering unprecedented access to data on driver’s license suspensions across North Carolina related to unpaid court fines and missed court appearances. The dashboard is an interactive tool designed […]

New initiative expands opportunities for students to engage in data-driven research, legal, and policy work aimed at improving our criminal justice system for all The Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law has received a generous gift from Duke University alumnus David McAtee (A.B. ’91) to establish the McAtee JustScience Lab, a visionary […]

New Report from the Wilson Center for Science and Justice Analyzes Impacts Six Years After the Implementation of New Misdemeanor Bail Policies in Harris County, Texas In 2019, Harris County, Texas, eliminated a required cash bail schedule for misdemeanors as a result of the ODonnell v. Harris County settlement. Instead, most people arrested for misdemeanors […]