Read this new op-ed in NC Policy Watch by Dr. Marvin Swartz, “Assistance for incarcerated people discharged during the pandemic: The humane and constitutional thing to do.” Dr. Swartz, who heads the Division of Social & Community Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Duke University and is faculty in the Duke […]
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Effects of COVID-19 on Community Programs for Justice-involved Adults with Behavioral Health Disorders
by Dr. Allison Robertson, Associate Professor, Services Effectiveness Research Program, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine Much important attention is focusing on how the COVID-19 pandemic is gravely affecting people who are incarcerated in US jails and prisons, a crisis that is worsening daily. There are also very serious concerns about justice-involved people who […]
Consenting to Relief to Remove Vulnerable People from Prison
Updated May 4, 2020: On April 23, this post discussed the use of consent MAR’s to address the risk from COVID-19 to individuals in North Carolina’s prisons. Since then, the risk from COVID-19 in prisons has increased. Pending litigation challenges the response from the prison system to COVID-19. In response to the litigation, Superior Court […]
Our NC Fines and Fees Data Website
Today we launched a new CSJ report on the explosion of fines and fees in North Carolina. As a companion to the report, we created, with outstanding work by Caroline Levenson, Duke Class of ’22, a data resource website here. The About page where you start, gives you a brief overview of our findings – […]
Our New Report: The Explosion of Unpaid Criminal Fines and Fees in NC
A new report, just released by the Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law, analyzes the burden of fines and fees in North Carolina. Unpaid court debt, much of it stemming from minor traffic infractions, affects one in 12 North Carolinians – a disproportionate number of them minority residents – and we are calling on state […]
The Innocence Files
The new Netflix series, the “Innocence Files,” features the stories of eight Innocence Project exoneration cases. The exonerates are: Kennedy Brewer, Levon Brooks, Alfred Dewayne Brown, Franky Carrillo, Keith Harward, Thomas Haynesworth, Chester Hollman II, and Kenneth Wyniemko. The focus of the series is flawed forensics, eyewitness misidentifications, and prosecutorial misconduct – three (of many) […]
Special Eyewitness Evidence Issue in Judicature
The Spring issue of Judicature’s features a symposium on eyewitness evidence in the courts, with contributions by Tom Albright, Judge Jed Rakoff, Judge Theodore McKee, Chad Dodson, and Brandon Garrett, including pieces describing work by Dodson, Garrett, and collaborators, funded by Arnold Ventures and presented at Duke CSJ events last year. Tom Albright and Judge […]
Media Coverage of State COVID-Related Prison Releases/Policy
Updated July 7. Below is a running resource with links to media coverage of state prison policy related to COVID-19, by Deniz Ariturk, recent graduate of the MA program in Bioethics and Science Policy at Duke University: National Coverage: NYT: Coronavirus Cases Rise Sharply in Prisons Even as They Plateau Neationwide (June 16) US Supreme Court […]
State Supreme Court Orders in Response to COVID-19
Updated April 27. COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the justice system, as shelter-in-place and stay-at-home orders have been declared throughout the country and a National Emergency was declared in mid-March. The judicial response to COVID-19 has varied state-by-state. The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) maintains up to date state profiles briefly summarizing […]
State Prison Responses to COVID-19
Updated May 12. The information below has been collected for the Center for Science and Justice from state corrections departments’ official websites, by Deniz Ariturk, recent graduate of the MA program in Bioethics and Science Policy at Duke University. States’ responses to COVID-19 have been quite varied, as has been the amount of information they provide […]