News

By Annie Han Months of Black Lives Matter marches across the nation followed the tragic murder of George Floyd to protest police use of excessive force against Black individuals. Professors Brandon L. Garrett of Duke Law School and Christopher Slobogin of Vanderbilt University School of Law recently assessed how American constitutional law continues to ignore […]

By Chinmay Amin In its yearly report, the Virginia Sentencing Commission directly cited a recent paper co-authored by Wilson Center Director Brandon Garrett and colleagues John Monahan and Anne Metz. The Commission is a state judicial branch agency made up of 17 members – appointed by the Virginia governor, chief justice, and the legislative branch […]

By Ruthie Kesri Criminal justice is front and center this election season. Politicians across the country are increasingly aware of the need for reforms addressing the high risk of wrongful conviction within this system. “Eyewitness Identification Speed: Slow Identifications from Highly Confident Eyewitnesses Hurt Perceptions of Their Testimony,” is a paper authored by Chad S. […]

HOUSTON, T.X. – The independent monitors overseeing Harris County’s historic bail reform agreement filed their report describing their first year of work and findings with the federal court this week, noting an increase in releases, a reduced use of cash bail, no change or a decline in repeat-offending, and the implementation of a range of […]

By Annie Han Curtis Flowers recently joined The Wilson Center to discuss his experience of being tried six times for the same four murders he didn’t commit and serving 23 years on death row. He was joined by his North Carolina attorney, Henderson Hill. Flowers was first suspected of the fatal shooting of four people […]

By Belle Allmendinger People with severe mental illness, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, can experience crisis in which they are unable to make competent decisions and by themselves cannot give consent to treatment. As a result, they may be involuntary committed to psychiatric facilities. Whether it is because of security and safety, for convenience, […]

By Ruthie Kesri Responding safely to behavioral health crises requires sensitivity, extensive training and de-escalation practice. Police have become the de facto first responders to those crises despite rarely receiving adequate training to safely and effectively handle the situation. The Wilson Center recently hosted a roundtable discussion on the topic. The event brought together three […]

By Annie Han The Urban Institute recently released an assessment of the outcomes from changes made to the Supervision Revocation Policy in 2011. The report examines outcomes for individuals on probation, post-release supervision, and parole supervision before and after the changes were implemented. In 2010, North Carolina’s prison population was projected to increase 10 percent […]