News

Why Jails Matter in the Fight Against COVID-19

Anna Flagg and Joe Neff reporting in the Marshall Project and NYT Upshot – with wonderful jail churn data visualization: Picture thousands of cruise ships jammed with guests but short on hand sanitizer, protective gear and medical care. Every week, a quarter of the passengers get off, replaced by new people with the potential to either […]

April 3, 2020

Justice in Forensic Algorithms

CSJ Director Brandon Garrett’s new piece in the Harvard Data Science Review, a comment on a new piece by Cynthia Rudin, Caroline Wang, and Beau Coker, titled “The Age of Secrecy and Unfairness in Recidivism Prediction.”  An excerpt: I write to comment on “The Age of Secrecy and Unfairness in Recidivism Prediction,” a wonderful new […]

April 1, 2020

Wilson Center Crim Works in Progress Mondays

We at the Wilson Center have been organizing Criminal Justice Works in Progress gatherings on Mondays on Zoom. Please let us know if you would like to join or present (email us at WCSJ@law.duke.edu). Here is our schedule so far (times are EST): Upcoming: Postponed to fall – Avani Mehta Sood (UC Berkeley Law), “Reaching […]

March 31, 2020

Criminal defense expert Maher joins Duke Center for Science and Justice as executive director

Thomas Maher, who has taught criminal trial practice to Duke Law students for nearly 30 years, has joined the Duke Center for Science and Justice as executive director. (full story on the Duke Law website). Maher practiced criminal defense law in state and federal court for more than 20 years before becoming, in 2006, executive […]

March 30, 2020

Joe Bryan Pardoned 

Last fall our Amicus Lab Course wrote an amicus brief in support of Joe Bryan’s post-conviction petition to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Here is a pdf of the entire Bryan Amicus Brief.  He had been denied parole seven times. Last Thursday, he was granted parole. KWTX news reports: “Throughout the past 35 years, Bryan […]

March 23, 2020