public safety, human dignity, equal justice

Criminal Justice

An effective criminal justice system protects people and preserves public safety while respecting human dignity and ensuring equal justice for all under the law.

After years of policies informed by tough-on-crime rhetoric that resulted in skyrocketing levels of incarceration and unintended consequences for individuals, families, and communities, the country has an urgent need to better orient the justice system.

We partner with scholars whose rigorous analysis informs improvements to the system.

Research and Education Priorities

Overcriminalization Simplifying the legal code and eliminating unnecessary contact with the justice system, particularly in relation to drug policy.
Policing Developing best practices in policing and presenting alternative policing models.
Due process Exploring opportunities for pre-trial reform that ensure justice for all, including those related to prosecutorial incentives, access to counsel, bail reform, and fines and fees.
Sentencing Demonstrating alternatives to excessive sentence lengths.

Our Partners

Barry Friedman is one of the country’s leading authorities on constitutional law, policing, criminal procedures, and federal courts. He is the founding director of NYU’s Policing Project, where he and his team explore models for policing reform that are focused on ensuring that the police respond only to those emergencies for which they are best suited.
Brandon Garrett, the L. Neil Williams Professor of Law, is among the most highly cited criminal-justice experts in the country with expertise in criminal procedure, scientific evidence, wrongful convictions, eyewitness identification, Constitutional law, and criminal-justice policy. He serves as director of the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke, which engages on a wide range of research topics including alternatives to prison, behavioral health, fines and fees, forensic science, plea bargaining, and sentencing. Garrett is the court-appointed monitor for the landmark pretrial reform settlement in Harris Co., Texas, helping to assess the progress and impact of that misdemeanor bail reform, which could serve as a national model.
Doug Berman is among the nation’s preeminent legal scholars on issues pertaining to criminal law and criminal sentencing. He has served as an editor for the Federal Sentencing Reporter for more than a decade and is also the sole creator and author of the widely read Sentencing Law and Policy blog. At OSU, Doug is both a law professor and director of the Drug Enforcement Policy Center, which brings together scholarship from across academia to help shape and enrich public conversations about the intersecting fields of criminal justice, drug policy, and enforcement.

Partner with us to build a more just society.

We form partnerships based on a shared vision and complementary capabilities, bringing our network, knowledge, research, and more to every relationship.