By Ruthie Kesri Plans for a novel Crisis/Diversion facility are currently underway in Orange County. The facility, which will be dedicated to providing behavioral health crisis services and criminal justice diversion, will be the first of its kind in the county. “We have so many good things in place here,” said Caitlin Fenhagen, the Director […]
Category: Homepage News
Viral Injustice: COVID-19 is Disproportionately Impacting Incarcerated Population
By Annie Han The COVID-19 Pandemic has disproportionately impacted people incarcerated in the US with 28% of the current incarcerated population testing positive for the virus compared to 9% of the general population. These outbreaks in prisons present serious health risks to the incarcerated, staff, and communities surrounding them, and they have forced courts to […]
Governor Creates Board to Review Juvenile Sentences
By Ruthie Kesri Gov. Roy Cooper recently announced the creation of a four-person advisory board to review the prison sentences of juveniles. “Developments in science continue to show fundamental differences between juvenile and adult minds,” Cooper said in a press release. “For those who have taken significant steps to reform and rehabilitate themselves, this process […]
NC Considers Raising Minimum Age of Prosecution From 6 to 10
By Annie Han “The 6-year-old dangled his legs above the floor as he sat at the table with his defense attorney,” said Virginia Bridges of the Durham Herald Sun. In March 2021, an article by Bridges described the case of a young boy forced to appear in court for picking a tulip from a lawn […]
Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion Focuses on Services and Treatment Over Arrest
By De’Ja Wood Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) is a community-based diversion program with the goal of reimagining public safety by decriminalizing drug abuse. Within LEAD, officers reduce unnecessary justice involvement for those struggling with substance use by connecting people who use drugs to services and treatment that prioritize their health and wellbeing. On Thursday, […]
Growing Above and Beyond: UCAN Farming Skills Support Reentry
Editor’s Note: This is the second installment of an occasional series from the Wilson Center’s Michele Easter examining the intersection of nature and agriculture to support recovery, resilience, and community success within justice-involved communities. The logo for this series was created by Pitch Story Lab, the student-run creative agency at Duke University. By Michele Easter After […]
Event Recap: A Blueprint for Bail Reform
By Chinmay Amin In Harris County, Texas, hearing officers and judges in low-level misdemeanor cases had relied on a cash-bail system prior to 2019. In setting misdemeanor bail, the hearing officers and judges did not routinely inquire into public safety, flight risk, or whether a defendant was homeless, indigent, or unable to pay. In most […]
Amicus: NC Court Should Not Have Admitted Dentist as Expert on Bite Mark Evidence
By Belle Allmendinger A trial court in North Carolina should not have admitted as an expert a dentist who testified about bite mark evidence in State v. Jonathan Richardson, given the “unanimous scientific consensus that this type of evidence is inherently unreliable.” An amicus brief setting out the reliability concerns inherent in bite mark analysis, […]
COVID Settlement Means NC Will Release 3,500 Incarcerated People Early
By Ruthie Kesri North Carolina will release 3,500 prisoners in state custody early over the next six-months after N.C. civil rights groups struck an agreement with Governor Cooper’s administration. Under the terms of the agreement, the lawsuit, which alleges that prison conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic have violated incarcerated persons’ constitutionally-guaranteed rights, will halt for […]
Faculty Spotlight Series: Fabiana Alceste
By De’Ja Wood Dr. Fabiana Alceste is a Latina professor of psychology at Butler University who was born in Caracas, Venezuela and raised Miami, Florida. Dr. Alceste earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and her Bachelor of Science in Criminology from the University of Florida and earned her Ph.D. from John Jay College of […]