News

The Wilson Center releases new policy brief on criminal fines and fees in North Carolina One in three Americans has been directly impacted by fines and fees related to traffic, criminal, or juvenile court in the past ten years. More than 650,000 North Carolinians, approximately one in 12 adults, have unpaid criminal court debt.   […]

April Scales, who was sentenced to life without parole at age 15 and granted clemency by Governor Cooper through the Juvenile Sentence Review Board process last year, spoke with our JustScience Lab students this month. President Biden has proclaimed October Youth Justice Action Month, designed to raise awareness and educate the public about the impact […]

Finding Home: Removing Barriers to Housing for Formerly Incarcerated Individuals Over half a million people in the United States are unhoused, and the rate of homelessness among formerly incarcerated individuals is ten times higher than that of the general population, with justice-impacted Black people being 50% more likely to be unhoused than justice-impacted white people. […]

This month, we were grateful for the opportunity to co-sponsor a Convening on Deflection and Pre-Arrest Diversion with the North Carolina Governor’s office and the North Carolina Department of Justice. This summit brought together policy makers, behavioral health practitioners, law enforcement officers and other stakeholders across the state to discuss ways to implement and improve […]

The Wilson Center is evaluating community sentiment of ShotSpotter. To do this, we are holding focus group conversations in the neighborhoods where ShotSpotter has been piloted in Durham. We hope the findings from this study will help to inform Durham City Council’s decision on whether to extend the contract with ShotSpotter. Currently, the technology is […]

This week marks the third anniversary of the police killing of George Floyd. In the first year after Floyd’s death, 1,489 bills relating to police violence were proposed. However, only 169 became law. That is just one of the findings in a database created by the Wilson Center for Science and Justice to better understand lawmaking in […]

At least 17 million families with children sacrifice essentials due to court debt The United States’ overreliance on legal fees and fines is directly impacting one in three American families, according to a new survey just released from the Fines and Fees Justice Center and the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law. The new report exposes […]

Today the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law releases a new Policy Brief: Ensuring Access to Medicaid During and After Incarceration: Key Policy Considerations in the Wake of Medicaid Expansion in North Carolina. On March 27, 2023, Governor Roy Cooper signed legislation to expand access to Medicaid, which will make an estimated 600,000 North […]