Change means no longer standing out so baldly as one of just one or two states that still think 16 is a sufficient age for the prosecution and incarceration that adults face. It requires persuading the Legislature and governor to make reforms that are essential yet politically difficult. Judge Lippman should continue to press his case, armed with the data and recommendations in a report by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, “Resolution, Reinvestment, and Realignment: Three Strategies for Changing Juvenile Justice.” Continue reading Albany Times Union—More Justice for Juveniles

Jeffrey Butts, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said in an email that criminologists credit the expansion of the prison population, improvements in policing, shifts in the job market and patterns of drug use among the factors that have reduced crime. But “even when all these things are added together, we still can’t explain close to half of why crime rates go up and down. They just do,” Butts said. Continue reading Roanoke Times—Less Crime Also Doesn’t Pay in Western Virginia’s Federal Courts