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Institute Intelligence

Insights, case studies, news, and updates from ISLG’s good governance research and action.


Insights Carla Sinclair Insights Carla Sinclair

Redefining Community Safety in Three Local Counties

As part of its efforts to lower jail populations across America and address racial disparities in the criminal justice system, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge recently funded a project examining racial disparities within a county jail.

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Insights, In The News Carla Sinclair Insights, In The News Carla Sinclair

To Make Pretrial Reforms Work, Listen to Workers in the Justice System

Though policymakers are responsible for establishing the policy frameworks, local agencies and practitioners — court officials, law enforcement, prosecutors, service providers and defense attorneys — are ultimately the ones who carry them out. Their buy-in during the legislative process can ensure policies in theory reach their intended goals in practice.

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Insights Carla Sinclair Insights Carla Sinclair

How We Conducted On-the-Ground Research During a Global Pandemic

New York’s sweeping criminal legal reforms went into effect just three months before the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought about its own unique set of challenges. As part of a qualitative process evaluation of how changes were implemented on the ground, we had to quickly adapt our methods to safely and meaningfully interview practitioners as well as interpret data that was now more nuanced.

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Insights Carla Sinclair Insights Carla Sinclair

Supporting Staff and Participants Amid Influx: Lessons from New York’s Reforms to Pretrial Services

Changes to New York’s criminal legal system in 2019 involved multiple provisions that touched many facets of the system, but its expansion of pretrial services as an alternative to pretrial detention precipitated significant policy and operational changes. Pulling from a process evaluation of its implementation, here are some recommendations for pretrial service providers to manage the shift.

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Insights Carla Sinclair Insights Carla Sinclair

Discovering how to Deal with Discovery: Lessons from New York’s Reforms to Evidence-Sharing Practices

As part of the overarching goal of creating a fairer and more equitable criminal legal system, the 2019 New York Criminal Justice Reform Act made sweeping changes to how evidence was shared between prosecutors and defenders. Pulling from a process evaluation of its implementation, here are some recommendations for prosecutors to manage the shift.

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