Our take on the end of the legislative session

Policy Center Education
Aug 16, 2022 Policy Center Education

At the end of this extraordinary legislative session, the team at MassINC sends a note of gratitude to the many partners who contributed to our various efforts over the past year. This includes funders, who generously underwrite the research; civic leaders, who selflessly lend their time and expertise to inform our work; and most especially,

What to do with the state’s half-empty prison system

Ben Forman featured in CommonWealth Magazine

Policy Center Press Coverage
Mar 23, 2022 Policy Center Press Coverage

Prison populations have fallen sharply and crime remains low in Massachusetts. Ben Forman asks what to do with the state’s half-empty prison system in CommonWealth op-ed.

With prison populations halved, it’s time for a reinvestment strategy

Jun 24, 2020

All told, state and county correctional agencies maintain a complex of nearly 500 buildings with approximately 10 million square feet among them.

Building a more diverse police force in Lawrence

Gateways Episode 31

Policy Center
Sep 10, 2019 Policy Center

This week on Gateways, Ben and Juana sit down with Mayor Dan Rivera. Mayor Rivera gives us a behind-the-scenes look at efforts to help the police department become more representative of Lawrence’s diverse population.

Budget offers solid blueprint for ‘Justice Reinvestment’

The MassCJRC Journal

Policy Center
Aug 5, 2019 Policy Center

As Massachusetts implements last year’s sweeping criminal justice reform package, we must stay focused on Justice Reinvestment—the effort to squeeze more public safety from limited resources by reducing prison terms and redirecting the savings to behavioral health treatment, education, training, and reentry services. The state budget signed this week by Gov. Baker includes promising new

Sixth Annual Massachusetts Criminal Justice Reform Coalition Policy Summit

Event Recap

Policy Center
Jun 21, 2019 Policy Center

Spring has been a whirlwind of activity. Amid it all, the Sixth Annual Massachusetts Criminal Justice Reform Coalition Summit stands out as a bright point. This year’s theme, Learning from Early Accomplishments in Young Adult Justice, drew a large crowd to the UMass Club on May 23rd, where speakers and attendees exchanged a wide range of

An oversight board committed to improving criminal justice data and transparency

The MassCJRC Journal

Policy Center
Nov 6, 2018 Policy Center

Data and transparency are critical to securing the improvements in public safety that comprehensive criminal justice reform promises. If we want reform to take hold, we must be vigilant about making progress in these two areas. Over the past few months, there have been some unsettling signs. In July, strong provisions empowering an independent commission

Half an ocean away

The MassCJRC Journal

Policy Center
Aug 17, 2018 Policy Center

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston was racing east across the Southern ocean two weeks ahead of his nearest competitor when the winds inexplicably turned to face him head-on for 12 consecutive days. It was 1968; he’d been at sea on his own for five months, attempting to win the first solo around the world race. Facing these

Putting our money where our mouth is

The MassCJRC Journal

Policy Center
Jul 24, 2018 Policy Center

With the passage of the FY 2019 state budget last week, leaders in the House and Senate once again signaled their commitment to comprehensive criminal justice reform. The sweeping package passed by the Legislature in April with overwhelming bipartisan support will only payoff if we invest in it. In the first state budget post-reform, lawmakers

Finding Better Ways to Allocate Limited Public Safety Resources

The MassCJRC Journal

Policy Center
Jun 12, 2018 Policy Center

Massachusetts’s criminal justice reform legislation is arguably the most wide-ranging and comprehensive in the country, at least as far as progress in a single legislative session goes. However, unlike most states that have pursued comprehensive reform, our legislation was largely crafted without independent technical assistance from the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI). One of the key

Ben Forman featured in CommonWealth Magazine

Gateways Episode 31

The MassCJRC Journal

Event Recap

The MassCJRC Journal

The MassCJRC Journal

The MassCJRC Journal

The MassCJRC Journal

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