November 16, 2021 — Benjamin van Rooij writes about why people obey or break the law. Adam Fine, Ph.D., is a professor of criminology and criminal justice as well as law & behavioral sciences at Arizona State University. Their book, The Behavioral Code: The Hidden Ways the Law Makes Us Better or Worse, is Freakonomics […]
Year: 2021
Novel Justice | Punishment Without Trial: Why Plea Bargaining Is a Bad Deal by Carissa Hessick
November 3, 2021 — Carissa Hessick is the Ransdell Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, where she also serves as the director of the Prosecutors and Politics Project. Her book, Punishment Without Trial: Why Plea Bargaining Is a Bad Deal, a provocative and timely exploration of how plea […]
Journalism’s Impact on the Criminal Legal System
November 1, 2021 — Journalism is one of the most powerful mediums in storytelling, education and shining a light on systemic injustices. Criminal justice reporting, in particular, can be crucial to bridging a gap between those who have experienced the system and those who have not. Journalists covering this beat educate the masses about complex […]
Learning from the Henry McCollum and Leon Brown Exonerations
September 29, 2021 — Henry McCollum and Leon Brown were intellectually disabled teenagers (brothers) when they were coerced into confessing to a murder they didn’t commit and sentenced to death. They spent 31 years in prison before DNA testing proved their innocence, and by the time of their release in 2014, Henry had served the […]
Novel Justice | A Pattern of Justice by David Sklansky
September 28, 2021 — David Sklansky is the Stanley Morrison Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and faculty co-director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center. His book, A Pattern of Violence: How the Law Classifies Crimes and What It Means for Justice, reveals how inconsistent ideas about violence, enshrined in law, are at the […]
Advances in Programs for Formerly Incarcerated Individuals
September 1, 2021 — Wilson Center for Science and Justice hosts an expert panel discussion about frontline programs for individuals returning from incarceration and how they can support re-entry with healthcare and peer support. This event focuses on meeting program clients’ behavioral health needs. Panelists are Shira Shavit, MD, Executive Director of the Transitions Clinic […]
Mental Illness and the Criminally Accused
Jul 23, 2021 — The Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law hosts a roundtable discussion about people with mental illnesses who are criminally accused and found incompetent to proceed in the criminal legal system. Topics include how competency restoration poses a challenge and costly management problem for state mental health and criminal […]
Fitch and Swanson on Civil Commitment
April 30, 2021 — Civil commitment and the mental health care continuum: Historical trends and principles for law and practice. Jeffrey Swanson is Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine. Larry Fitch is a lawyer on the faculty of the University of Maryland, where he teaches classes on mental health […]
Novel Justice | The Feminist War On Crime by Aya Gruber
Apr 15, 2021 — Novel Justice is a book event series hosted by the Wilson Center for Science and Justice. We invite authors to discuss recently published criminal justice books and to engage in Q&A with faculty and students. Aya Gruber is Professor of Law at the University of Colorado Law School. Her book, The […]
Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion
April 9, 2021 — Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) is a community-based diversion approach with the goals of improving public safety and public order and reducing unnecessary justice system involvement of people who participate in the program. A panel of experts discussed their work and experience with LEAD. They are Lisa Daugaard, Director of the […]