June 2017 will be remembered as an important milestone for criminal justice reform in Massachusetts. After numerous commissions, taskforces, research reports, and independent analyses, legislators are looking at a bevy of seriously substantive criminal justice reform proposals. Those engaged in the long fight for comprehensive criminal justice reform should pause for a moment to reflect
“There is no issue more worthy of our efforts, and no time left for inaction.”
The MassCJRC Journal
Massachusetts is at a crossroads. For years, leaders at the highest levels of state government have been promising to take on comprehensive criminal justice reform; to mine the data, to develop policies based on what we need and what is proven to work, and to bring these proposals forward for a vote. In the summer
Profiles in Courage
The MassCJRC Journal
Last month, Governor Baker introduced much anticipated legislation to address recommendations made by the Council of State Governments (CSG) on backend criminal justice reform. In public remarks given on the same day the CSG legislative package was unveiled, Chief Justice Gants called this work a “first down, not a touchdown.” Calling attention to the State
Checking the pulse on criminal justice reform
The MassCJRC Journal
One after another last week the Sentencing Commission held a public hearing to gather input on ideas discussed in a closed session over the past year, the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) working group met to review the latest CSG analysis, and Justice Gants delivered his third state of the judiciary address. This burst of activity
Bringing community corrections into focus
The MassCJRC Journal
Over the summer months, we spent time with grassroots organizations working in neighborhoods disproportionately impacted by incarceration. These groups try their best to support justice-involved individuals and their families, but with very modest resources they only reach a small fraction of those who need services. A key consideration for the Justice Reinvestment conversation is how
Doing our job
The MassCJRC Journal
Jimmy G. epitomized the “do your job” mantra when he took to the field Sunday night amid the bright lights and fan noise and executed. For all of those who have worked equally tirelessly over the last decade or more to advance criminal justice reform, the moment to channel Garoppolo and the Patriots is quickly approaching —
Supporting our police officers on criminal justice reform
The MassCJRC Journal
The latest incidents of tragic violence in communities of color across the county have drawn greater attention to criminal justice reform. The public increasingly recognizes that we are asking too much of our police when we send them into neighborhoods torn apart by decades of disinvestment, racial discrimination, illegal drugs, and the proliferation of guns.
Expunging juvenile records
The MassCJRC Journal
A who’s who crowd of criminal justice leaders gathered at the Seaport Hotel on Monday for the annual fundraising breakfast for the Chelsea-based nonprofit Roca, which works to steer high-risk young people toward positive pursuits. Addressing the audience, Gov. Charlie Baker reflected on recent efforts to increase prison education-a practice that has long been understood to
Massachusetts digs in on justice-reinvestment
The MassCJRC Journal
Massachusetts state leaders have launched a data-driven “justice reinvestment” approach to develop a policy package for the 2017 legislative session that curbs corrections spending and shifts resources into strategies to reduce recidivism and increase public safety. Twenty-four other states have carried out this data-driven approach, with intensive technical assistance from The Council of State Governments
Improving the way we serve justice-involved young adults
The MassCJRC Journal
Over these last few years, we’ve often heard about the difficulty corrections leaders have serving young adults. Motivating inmates in their teens and early 20s to participate in programming that will help them succeed is difficult, in part because severing ties with family and other realities of life behind bars hit youth particularly hard. Our
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