Simple Justice: An Overview of Justice Reform in the 115th Congress
You are safer walking down the street today than any point since the 1960s. Despite claims of a new crime wave, the United States is experiencing its lowest crime rates…
Criminal Justice Champions Give New Life To Reform Bills
The movement to pass measures of criminal justice reform in Washington has sprung to life in the 115th Congress in recent days. In the Senate, conservative champions of the issue…
The Politics of a Guilty Mind
Criminal justice reform has been a topic of major focus in Congress for several sessions. On the foremost issues, both sides of the aisle have managed to agree. However, most…
Why Addressing Over-Criminalization Is a Vital Part of Justice Reform
The House Judiciary Committee is poised to take up several bills dealing with justice reform. Among the bills scheduled for markup on Wednesday are the Sentencing Reform Act,…
The “Swift, Certain, and Appropriate” Approach to Criminal Justice in Utah
At the recent Pew Charitable Trusts event, Innovative Solutions to State Challenges: Utah’s Criminal Justice Reform, key players in Utah’s criminal justice reform efforts shared insights on the continuing…
Over-criminalization and Mens Rea: The Missing Topics in the Justice Reform Debate
The epidemic of over-criminalization was the focal point of remarks delivered by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on Monday afternoon. Justice reform has been a hot topic in Congress this year,…
The Over-criminalization Epidemic: The Need for a Guilty Mind Requirement in Federal Criminal Law
Justice reform is a topic that has received a lot of attention from members of Congress. Front-end sentencing and back-end reentry reforms have dominated the discussion on Capitol Hill, as…
You’ve probably broken the law, and you don’t even know it
In April 1790, the first Congress passed the Crimes Act, a law that established a criminal code in the United States. The Constitution listed only three crimes — counterfeiting, piracy,…
Congress must address out of control spending at the Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is coming under some scrutiny from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). The two Kentucky Republicans recently introduced the Federal…