DURHAM, NC – In a unique partnership with the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law, two district attorney’s offices are providing unprecedented access and information about the little-understood world of plea agreements in criminal cases. Durham County (NC) District Attorney Satana Deberry and Berkshire County (MA) District Attorney Andrea Harrington partnered with […]
Tag: Duke Law
Op-ed: NC is Failing the Wrongfully Convicted; HB 877 Could Help
Duke Law Professors James E. Coleman Jr. and Jamie T. Lau brought much-needed attention in an op-ed published Monday to the fact that even after serving 25 years in prison, North Carolina can get away with compensating the wrongfully convicted as little as $45. The op-ed was published by the News & Observer. For nearly […]
Duke Professor Co-Authors Washington Post Opinion Piece About ‘Broken’ Policing System
John Rappaport and Ben Grunwald are no strangers to writing about flaws in the American policing system – you may recognize their bylines from their research last year about wandering officers, a coin they termed for police officers who were fired by one department, often for something serious, but who later found work in another […]
Wilson Center’s Fall Students Bring Excitement, Passion for Criminal Justice Work
More than 40 students worked with the Wilson Center during the fall semester, with many continuing on with their projects this spring. The Duke University undergraduates, law students, and graduate students worked across more than 10 projects, bringing their excitement and passion for criminal justice research in their work, according to Research Director Dr. William Crozier. “Despite the […]
Online Conference Offers Scholars Maximum Feedback on Research
By Belle Allmendinger The Wilson Center and Duke Law’s Ben Grunwald hosted the inaugural Empirical Criminal Law Roundtable in December. “We are so pleased to have gathered together such an impressive and collegial group of scholars from across the country, to share their works in progress and provide feedback designed to improve the quality of […]
Wandering Officer Research Could Create More Transparency in Police Hiring
By Sydney Gaviser In light of high-profile police uses of force and subsequent protests this summer, police officers have been scrutinized more than ever. While some of the conversation has related to rules for police use of force and how police are funded, or defunded, another focus has been on how police officers are hired, […]
Join Us at Virtual Event Celebrating 30 Years of the Americans with Disabilities Act
This year marks the 30th anniversary of President George H.W. Bush signing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law. Join us later this week for a panel Q&A exploring the past, present and future of the ADA, and how and the extent to which it has increased access to services for an entire generation. […]
Brandon Garrett among law professors across nation calling on Congress for police accountability
More than 300 law professors from across the country signed a letter last week calling on Congress to end qualified immunity and create vicarious liability for local government units when their officers violate people’s constitutional rights. As stated in the letter, a “qualified immunity” defense makes recovery against a police officer very difficult, even when the […]