Criminal Justice Reporting: It's Your Beat Whether You Think So or Not

By Zerline Hughes

Criminal justice reporting can be a challenge for journalists in these times. For that matter, reporting on anything is a challenge with the various fiscal issues that face media outlets today. Further challenging is the fact that criminal justice reporting is no longer a beat all its own. The old-school neighborhood cops and courts reporters have now transformed into regional and national politics and fiscal affairs reporters. Even health and medical issues reporters are assigned to the justice beat as a result of the many issues that now span criminal justice (conditions of confinement, impact on state/national budgets). The same thing goes for journalists originally trained as finance and business reporters – they’re now dabbling in criminal justice-related issues because our U.S. criminal justice system is responsible for many states’ – and the nation’s – financial troubles. Entertainment and sports reporters, too, are now on the CJ beat, as celebrities and high-profile people (Lindsay Lohan, Martha Stewart, Plaxico Burress, Bernard Madoff, Dominique Strauss-Kahn) have been involved in the ‘system’ and regularly made headlines. How to report on these issues without sensationalizing them, and how to accurately explain how the law works and the lasting effects of criminal justice system involvement should, too, be a part of news reporting.

Is Data Doing Justice to our Veterans?

Below is the most recent installment, written by Soros Justice Fellow Guy Gambill, in JPI’s series on Veterans & Justice. Over the past four decades, too many veterans have returned home from war only to end up in our prisons and jails. This is often a result of their combat experience and our country’s inability to address the negative consequences associated with it. Returning veterans began playing a central role in the rise of the U.S. prison population following the Vietnam era; in 1986, 24 percent of all Federal prison inmates and 21 percent of those in State prisons were veterans. Early data indicates this pattern is repeating itself now as men and women return home from Iraq and Afghanistan. It doesn’t have to be this way. You can read the full essay here.

Following my own military service, I experienced homelessness and plenty of justice contact. In addition, I watched far too many other veterans live shattered lives, in many cases dying at far too young of an age. I had hoped to not see this happen again, but I am afraid, unless things change rapidly, it will be so. And while there are many fronts that need to be worked on, until we have accurate data on the scope of the problems our vets are currently facing, we cannot begin to come up with solutions.

Juvenile Justice Youth Shortchanged by Overloaded Juvenile Defense Caseloads

By Tracy Velázquez

Focusing on changing youth behavior is important. However, youth success also depends on what we as adults do, particularly when it comes to youth who come in contact with the justice system. The Justice Policy Institute’s new report, “System Overload,” shows how our shortchanging of public defender systems can have significant and lasting negative affects for both youth and adults who rely on them.

The right to effective counsel, regardless of ability to pay, is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. This includes youth facing juvenile delinquency proceedings. However, a lack of financial resources for public defenders means that attorneys don’t have enough time for each case. Youth may not see their attorney until shortly before a hearing, or their public defender’s office might not have funding for investigators to look into the facts around the alleged offense. The following are some possible consequences of not having a robust public defender system:

Welcome!

Welcome to Just Policy Blog, from the Justice Policy Institute (JPI).

Just Policy Blog will bring you our perspective on criminal and juvenile justice reform. From concise synthesis of our own reports, briefs and factsheets, to highlights of under-the-radar news stories, to original ideas and musings about justice-related issues from our own staff, interns and board members as well as others working in the field, Just Policy Blog will run the gamut of issues related to incarceration and policies that are driving incarceration and justice system involvement.