The Political Dynamics of Justice Reform in The U.S.

Some places are doing better than others. Montgomery County, Maryland, put a jobtraining
center inside the prison walls to give folks a head start in thinking about “what
might you do otherwise” than committing crimes. That’s a good idea. Here’s another
good idea, one with bipartisan support in Congress: let’s reward prisoners with reduced
sentences if they complete programs that make them less likely to commit a repeat
offense. Let’s invest in innovative new approaches to link former prisoners with
employers, help them stay on track.
Let’s follow the growing number of our states and cities and private companies who
have decided to ban the box on job applications so that former prisoners who have
done their time and are now trying to get straight with society have a decent shot with a
job interview. And if folks have served their time, and they have reentered society, they
should be able to vote. (See “Felony Disenfranchisement”)
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The Marshall Project
Nonprofit Journalism About Criminal Justice
19 September 2018
This Agency Tried to Fix the Race Gap in Juvenile Justice.
Then Came Trump
A new presidential appointee has quietly changed decades-old federal policies
meant to improve racial disparities in youth incarceration.
For two decades, the number of children behind bars in the U.S. has been on the
decline—but the racial disparity has been dramatically worsening, with black youth
several times more likely than their white counterparts to be incarcerated.
A little-known Justice Department agency is supposed to tackle this problem: the Office
of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, which has been mandated by
Congress since 1988 to try to shrink the racial gap by providing grants and training to
local juvenile courts and law enforcement agencies. In return, states receiving federal
dollars must gather data on inequality, explore why it’s happening and pursue solutions.
But with an appointee of President Trump at the helm, the office has taken a quiet but
decisive turn away from that mandate.
Under new administrator Caren Harp, who took office in January, the agency is
essentially dissolving its research arm—which had been the only federal team regularly
compiling information on racial patterns in juvenile arrests and incarceration.
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