The epidemic of gun violence in the United States is a multifaceted problem that claimed nearly 47,000 lives in 2023. Firearm injuries and deaths touch countless others as well – from bereaved family members to affected communities suffering the collective loss and trauma of everyday gun violence. In a nation where private ownership of firearms […]
Category: Blog
Highlights from our Beyond Bars Event
We were so grateful to partner with the Nasher Museum to host an event in conjunction with the exhibit Processing Systems: Numbers by Sherrill Roland. The exhibit features work by Sherrill Roland, Assistant Professor of Sculpture at the University of North Carolina from his ongoing exploration of the criminal justice system. The works are part […]
Out now! Our 2023-2024 Annual Report
We are delighted to release our 2023-2024 annual report, which details our work over the last fiscal year! We’ve expanded our work in both the policy and the research arenas across all our focus areas: accuracy of evidence, behavioral health, and equity in criminal outcomes. We’ve worked on projects related to bail reform, criminal fines and […]
Recap: Community-Based Approaches to Gun Violence
“I’ve never met a single person who has come from prison for killing someone with a gun, who hasn’t been harmed at some point in their life,” said Co-Chair of the Durham City and County Taskforce on Community Safety Marcia Owens. Her comment gets to the heart of an issue surrounding gun violence. How can […]
New Wilson Center report explores alternatives to law enforcement transport for people experiencing behavioral health crises
For too many people experiencing acute mental illness, cries for help bring police and handcuffs rather than compassionate medical intervention. But this doesn’t have to be the case. The Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law explores this issue and makes recommendations in our latest report: Changing the Route: Seeking Compassionate Alternatives to […]
New Report: Wrongful Convictions in North Carolina
Today marks International Wrongful Convictions Day – a day designed to raise awareness of the causes and remedies of wrongful convictions and to shed light on the tremendous harms wrongful convictions have on individuals, their families, and communities. Since 1989, 75 people have been exonerated in North Carolina. Collectively, these exonerees lost 963 years to […]
New Report: Dementia and the Aging Prison Population
Wilson Center Releases Policy Brief on Best Practices for Care and Release of Incarcerated Individuals with Dementia The number of incarcerated seniors has tripled in the last 20 years, and that number is only expected to grow. By 2030, U.S. prisons will incarcerate 400,000 seniors – 1/3 of the total prison population. Estimates vary but […]
Seventh Report Released in the ODonnell Consent Decree Monitorship
Latest Houston Bail Monitor Report Shows Overall Decline in Misdemeanor Arrests with No Negative Effect on Public Safety Houston, TX — On Sunday, the independent monitors overseeing Harris County’s historic bail reform agreement filed their seventh report describing their work and findings with the federal court, noting that bail reforms under the ODonnell Consent Decree […]
Houston Bail Monitor Report Released
Evaluation of Durham’s ShotSpotter Installation
ShotSpotter evaluation shows increased gunshot notifications, quicker police response times, and more arrests, but questions of accuracy and impact remain, and many focus group participants expressed skepticism ShotSpotter more than doubled gunshot notifications in the Durham pilot area and led to a 1.2-minute reduction in median police response time, researchers were unable to draw conclusions […]