New Thinking, from the Center for Justice Innovation
Latest Episodes
The War on Drugs Returns to Oregon
Three years ago, Oregon broke with the War on Drugs, decriminalizing the possession of most illicit drugs. The measure promised instead a "health-based approach." But the legislature has just ended th
Gideon at 60: Deconstructing Mass Supervision
Vincent Schiraldi used to run probation in New York City; now hes asking whether it should even exist. Schiraldi says some of the roots of mass supervisionand its connection to mass incarcerationca
Gideon at 60: Uncivil Justice
A profile of the fight to secure lawyers for people facing eviction and the radical impact that is having in Housing Court. With its 1963 Gideon decision, the Supreme Court guaranteed a lawyer to any
Gideon at 60: The Unfunded Mandate
As the legal scholar Paul Butler wrote ten years ago, "On every anniversary of Gideon, liberals bemoan the state of indigent defense." On this 60th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision g
When Young People Go to Prison for Life
April Barber Scales was a pregnant 15-year-old when she received two life sentences; Anthony Willis was 16 when he was sent away for life. After more than 25 years behind bars, they each received some
Emphasizing the Harms
A recent two-day training for Manhattan prosecutors was a drumbeat on the harms of incarceration; hardly the typical message prosecutors receive. The training was part of a wider effort by D.A. Alvin
Evicting Evictions
Housing is a human right. What if we designed our systemsbeginning with Housing Courtto embody that? Given the current eviction crisis, it's a far-off concept, but there's work to make it a reality
Reform and Its Discontents
Nominated for a Media for a Just Society award, revisit New Thinking's conversation with activists Victoria Law and Maya Schenwar. In their book, Prison By Any Other Name, Law and Schenwar contend tha
Why Data Doesn’t Stick
Efforts to reform the justice system often tout they're "evidence-based" or "data-driven." But at a moment when a national increase in crime, likely triggered by the pandemic, seems to have put the re
Can We Close Rikers?
New York City has committed to closing its notorious Rikers Island jail facility by 2027. That could dramatically reorient the city's approach to incarceration. The plan envisions a citywide jail popu