The recent decision by the three judge panel in the Coleman/Plata case should be applauded as a short but positive step forward in forcing some degree of sanity upon the broken California prison system.  Unfortunately, the fact that a panel of Federal judges was forced to step in and force the state to make long overdue policy decisions is simply another poignant reminder of ou

Just released Criminal Justice Statistics Center 2008 crime numbers and Center for Health Statistics 2007 death figures deal a double whammy to three decades of California’s criminal justice failure. But first, the ironies.

Last month, CJCJ released a detailed study documenting the feasibility, benefits, and cost savings of closing California’s juvenile prison system and transferring its dwindling roster of inmates to county detention facilities.

For the past 20 years the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice has critically examined the control exercised by special interests group over California’s prison policy – especially the state’s prison guards union.   With their ability to spend millions of dollars to defeat political enemies, the guards union has achieved unprecedented success in promoting their agenda and resisting r

California’s growing budget crisis and prison lawsuits are focusing more attention on a serious policy question: Are there better ways to reduce crime and treat criminals than by spending $36,000 in taxpayer dollars every year to lock up each low-level property and drug possession offender in state prison?

The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office and the Pacific Juvenile Defender Association staged their yearly juvenile justice roundtable on Friday, November  7.   The conference was well attended by juvenile public defenders and defense counsel from around California.   I was asked to speak on the topic of presenting incarceration alternatives at disposition hearings.

Welcome to the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice's newly developed Policy Center.  This page will predominantly serve as a posting board for updates and current news in the fields of juvenile and criminal justice.  Postings will be made by experts in the field, to include our various Directors and Senior Research Fellows.  This