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 […]
Category: Student Work
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 […]
Emerging Health Model Proving Effective at Reducing Convictions, Jail Time
By Annie Han Prisoners with mental health issues are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system, with over 37% in state or federal prisons diagnosed with mental illness. Their health and behavioral needs are often untreated, or they do not receive proper care. They also face significant challenges upon release when transitioning back into the […]
Durham DA Highlights 2020 Successes, Partnerships in Annual Report
By Belle Allmendinger The Durham District Attorney’s office released its 2020 Annual Report on February 18th, demonstrating the incredible work being done on several fronts. From advancing racial equity in the criminal legal system to adapting to socially distant courtrooms, this report highlights internal and external partnerships, including with the Wilson Center for Science and […]
Reentry Event Highlights Need For More Resources
By De’Ja Wood On Tuesday, March 9, Alice Marie Johnson and Dontae Sharpe joined the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law to discuss community re-entry challenges for those people who have been incarcerated. Johnson is a criminal justice reform advocate and former federal prison who served almost 22 years in prison. It […]
Slobogin & Garrett’s ‘Law on Police’ and Reforms Today
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 […]
Virginia Sentencing Commission References Wilson Center Work, UVA Colleagues in Annual Report
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 […]
Research Seeks to Assess How Eyewitness ID Speed is Interpreted Regarding Accuracy
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. […]
Curtis Flowers, Attorney Talk Justice, Death Row, Innocence and Hope for a Better Legal System
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 […]
Ongoing Research Offers Insight into Implementing Psychiatric Advance Directives
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, […]