Safer Neighborhoods Start With Trees

Simple neighborhood designs can do more for public safety

Child Support Enforcement Drives Mass Incarceration

Our system isn't helping kids--it's putting parents in prison.

Cash Bail Is Expensive And Unsafe

Across the US, cities, counties, and some states are re-evaluating the use of cash bail.

Criminal Court Processes are Punishments Themselves

It is critical that Americans also acknowledge that powerful institutions inflict violence on people presumed innocent under the law every day. As it stands, the system is directly at odds with the idea that Americans are “innocent until proven guilty”, inflicting severe and traumatizing punishment long before a person sees a jury of their peers.

The American Punishment System is Destroying Trust in Government

Policing and Punishing Childhood

Transportation Access and the Criminal Legal System

"Collateral Consequences" of the Criminal Legal System: An Overview

Gang Documentation and Gang Injunctions Harm Communities

How Probation and Parole Drive Mass Incarceration

We must confront the fact that we cannot empty our prisons and jails without addressing the influx of people pushed through community supervision into incarceration.

Public Benefits Access and the Criminal System

Access to public benefits may be an under-appreciated public safety mechanism. When people are able to pay their rent, support their families, not go hungry, have a roof over their heads, and have access to healthcare, they are less likely to engage in crime.

Empowering Public Defenders Transforms The Legal System

In its current form, the American carceral system robs people of opportunity, tears families apart, and destabilizes entire communities. Unlike police, prisons, and prosecutors, public defenders are uniquely situated to empower those facing the criminal legal system, shrink the system itself by reducing incarceration, and transform our approach to public safety.

Strong Social Ties Increase Safety

It turns out relationships are everything.

Arrests are Driving Housing Loss

The first step to reducing homelessness might be reducing arrests.