Criminal Justice

essay

Hackathon Focuses on Making Policing More Equitable

Hackathons bring new ideas and perspectives to hard policy problems and introduce college students to the field of policy analysis. The latest hackathon, hosted by Pardee RAND and RAND NextGen, explored ways to make the criminal justice system more equitable and more effective.

blog

The Most Popular RAND Research of 2021

As another extraordinary year draws to a close, we continue to believe that objective, nonpartisan research and analysis has a key role to play in navigating what continues to be a difficult time. Here are the 10 research projects that resonated most with rand.org readers in 2021.

blog

Nuclear Deterrence, COVID-19 and Infant Deaths, Criminal Justice Reform: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on why the United States doesn’t need more nuclear weapons, increased infant deaths during the pandemic, preventing veteran suicide, and more.

blog

Criminal Justice in the Pandemic Era and Beyond

The pandemic forced the entire criminal justice system to adapt and innovate in ways it never had before. How can the lessons of COVID-19 improve the future of criminal justice?

blog

Vaccine Hesitancy, Working from Home, Arctic Diplomacy: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on vaccine hesitancy as a symptom of ‘Truth Decay,’ how to make remote work beneficial for all, U.S. Arctic diplomacy, and more.

commentary

Capitol Rioters Face FBI Arrests and Prosecution. How Not to Make Them Martyrs in the Process

The righteous wrath of those who view January 6 as an insurrection and believe we need uncompromising prosecution is understandable. But is it strategic thinking? History has shown that prosecutions based on less severe and politically-fraught charges have a greater chance of resulting in the convictions needed to stop this behavior.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

blog

Trust in the CDC, Teaching Students with Disabilities, Russian Mercenaries: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses declining trust in the CDC, insights from educators about teaching students with disabilities, Russian mercenaries, and more.

commentary

Leaving ISIS Detainees in the Desert Doesn't Serve U.S. Interests

Leaving ISIS detainees in the desert may sound like an apt punishment, but it's dangerous. Repatriation and prosecution could help ensure ISIS volunteers don't scatter to other jihadist fronts.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

Terrorism on Trial: The Problem of Prosecuting International Jihadists

The International Criminal Court may be the most ideal institution to try accused terrorists. The court would take into account the legal status of terrorists, the nationalities of their victims, and the location of the crimes — while upholding the core values of Western democracies.

Antonia Ward

commentary

The Perils of Setting Police Targets: First Time Entrants to the Youth Justice System

The police play a critical role in determining whether young people are either directed towards or diverted away from the justice system. Introducing policing targets can create perverse incentives and raises particular concerns because of the potential damaging effects that criminalization can have on young people.

Alex Sutherland, Matthew Davies

commentary

The Intersection of Algorithms and an Individual's Rights

Data collection, and our reliance on it, have evolved extremely rapidly. The resulting algorithms have proved invaluable for organizing, evaluating and utilizing information. How do individuals' rights come in to play, when data about their lives is compiled to create algorithms, and the resulting tools are applied to judge them?

Dan Grunfeld

commentary

Should California Drop Criminal Penalties for Drug Possession?

Californians have a lot to consider when it comes to decriminalizing possession. But now is the time for a rigorous discussion about removing criminal penalties for drug possession, rather than rushing to judgment in the heat of a future election season.

Beau Kilmer @BeauKilmer, Robert J. MacCoun

commentary

Using Digital Data in Criminal Investigations: Where and How to Draw the Line?

Personal devices such as smartphones and wearables gather and store personal data. How much of this "digital footprint" should be available for criminal investigations?

Brian A. Jackson

commentary

What Data Is the Government Keeping About You?

Governments are amassing a wealth of data on citizens, a trend that will continue as technology advances. But with no reliable way to ensure that the data is accurate, risks abound. In the criminal justice system, for example, poor quality data could affect individual freedoms and employability.

Dulani Woods, Brian A. Jackson

commentary

Does the Court System Know as Much About Electronically Stored Information as Your Teenager? It Should.

Electronically stored information from smart appliances, fitness trackers, and other devices is making its way into the U.S. court system. Judges and lawyers need to better understand this evidence so they can challenge it or rule on its admissibility in court.

Duren Banks, Brian A. Jackson

commentary

What Should Trump Do About Gitmo?

The new administration has options to deal with the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay. It could maintain the status quo, make improvements to speed the trials, close the facility and relocate the remaining inmates, or accept new detainees.

K. Jack Riley @K_Jack_Riley

commentary

Domestic Warning Signs of Mass Shootings

After shootings, there is inevitably public debate over gun safety, constitutional rights, police tactics, terrorism, race, and politics. But these discussions rarely focus on a common factor among the perpetrators: a history of violence against women.

Radha Iyengar Plumb

commentary

The True Economic Cost of Corruption in Europe: Up to €990 Billion Annually

Corruption costs Europe up to €990 billion in GDP annually, according to a new study. That's more than eight times previous estimates.

Marco Hafner, Jirka Taylor

commentary

How to Fix Guantanamo's Broken Justice

Replacing military judges with federal judges would expedite the process of resolving the Guantánamo cases in ways that would reflect better on the credibility and legitimacy of the U.S. justice system, while serving the interests of Congress, the president, survivors, and victims' families.

K. Jack Riley @K_Jack_Riley, Jerrold D. Green, et al.

commentary

Oregon Standoff Shouldn't Have an Anti-Terrorism Twist

Dwight and Steven Hammond were charged under a law enacted to fight terrorism, not rein in wayward ranchers. Anti-terrorist laws should not be used to strengthen prosecutors' hands in nonterrorist prosecutions—it makes national security needs look like an instrument of oppression.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

essay

How Will Technology Change Criminal Justice?

In perhaps no other field does society have as direct a stake in getting technology right as in policing. How will technology change the work that law enforcement agencies do and the communities they serve?

commentary

What's Next on the Convicted Terrorist's Timeline?

As inmates near the end of their sentences for terrorism-related offenses, and with some individuals already freed, it's time to explore what considerations may be necessary.

Michael A. Brown

commentary

Bringing FARC in from the Cold

The announcement of a preliminary peace accord by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Colombian government is not receiving public support. Most Colombians manifest a strong desire for peace but they reject the possibility that crimes committed in the name of revolution should receive amnesty.

Arturo Munoz

commentary

Understanding Police Coordination

Understanding coordination work in policing is worthy of attention by researchers for a number of reasons. When police fail to coordinate their activities adequately, crimes and their detection and prosecution can slip through organizational cracks.

Chris Giacomantonio

commentary

In the Interest of Justice

As the line between criminal justice and national security continues to blur, K. Jack Riley offers three principles that can help young criminology practitioners and scholars.

K. Jack Riley @K_Jack_Riley

commentary

Could You Lose Your License to Drink?

Criminal justice reform requires creating demand for bold ideas about simultaneously reducing incarceration and crime. Given the prominent role alcohol plays in crime — and the strong results from South Dakota's 24/7 Sobriety program — suspending one's “license to drink” seems well worth considering.

Beau Kilmer @BeauKilmer

blog

Examining Police, Community Relations

The “Strengthening Police-Community Trust” panel held Wednesday at RAND's Pittsburgh offices felt ripped from the headlines, and from the outset the discussion was focused on what the moderator called “the intersection between the community and the police.”

commentary

Progress After Ferguson? Good Ideas Need Good Implementation

President Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing has done a great service by providing dozens of sound recommendations—good ideas that could help avoid another Ferguson. Now we need good implementation to go along with them.

Nelson Lim, Greg Ridgeway

commentary

Can Big Data Help Build Trust in the Police?

After two controversial grand jury decisions not to indict police in the deaths of unarmed African Americans, a White House task force has 90 days to provide recommendations for promoting accountability among law enforcement agencies to cultivate trust between police and communities. The timeline may seem impossible, but, sadly, these issues are old and the solutions are well known.

Nelson Lim

commentary

In Ferguson's Wake, How a Data-Driven Approach Can Improve Police-Community Relations

Community leaders and police departments have a responsibility to their citizens to address questions about their policing practices, such as: What are the most significant areas of concern? How severe are the problems? What are the most effective solutions?

Keith Henry

commentary

First Steps Toward Addressing DR Congo's Rape Crisis

An effort to address atrocities against women in the Democratic Republic of Congo has fallen short of advocates' hopes for justice. With its focus on criminal prosecution, the strategy failed to consider the weak infrastructure of the judicial system, left victims' needs unmet, and did little to address prevention.

Mahlet Atakilt Woldetsadik

commentary

New Approach to Prison and the War on Drugs

If you want to reduce cocaine consumption and drug-related crime, you get more bang for the buck if you put money into treatment rather than paying for the increase in incarceration produced by federal mandatory minimum sentences, writes Beau Kilmer.

Beau Kilmer @BeauKilmer

commentary

A Final Word on the NDAA

While I have no doubt of Levin's determination to protect the constitutional rights of American citizens, incremental adjustments and seemingly small compromises, each sensible under the circumstances, can have a cumulative effect that erodes the very liberty we are trying to protect, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

The NDAA Makes It Harder to Fight Terrorism

Much of the debate over this bill has focused on the political issue of executive authority versus rule of law. In doing so it has overlooked the indirect and insidious effects the new law may have on the United States' largely successful counterterrorist campaign, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.

Brian Michael Jenkins @BrianMJenkins

commentary

California's Prisoner Shuffle

The state needs to deal with prison overcrowding and inadequate medical care for prisoners in ways that don't simply transfer the burden to county criminal justice systems and the healthcare safety nets of local communities, writes Lois Davis.

Lois M. Davis @LoisMDavis