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UrduWhen the fires engulfed Los Angeles and the Pacific Palisades this month, more than 1,000 incarcerated individuals volunteered to battle the fires. Up tp 30 percent of California’s active firefighting workforce can be incarcerated people, making them a considerable factor in the state’s firefighting strategies, according to Alexandra Nur, a criminal justice professor in the UNLV Greenspun College of Urban Affairs.
Tag: Criminal Justice
Study Finds Police Misconduct ‘Hotspots’ Across Florida
Researchers analyzed data from 241 Florida law enforcement agencies across 67 counties to explore police misconduct. They uncovered 24 types of offenses, such as assault, weapons violations, manslaughter, and perjury. Notably, failure to report and perjury topped the list, with sexual crimes and drug/alcohol-related offenses also prominent.
UC Irvine online criminology master’s program again rated No. 1 in nation
Irvine, Calif., Feb. 7, 2024 — The University of California, Irvine Master of Advanced Study in criminology, law and society has been named the nation’s best online criminal justice master’s program by U.S. News & World Report for the fifth year in a row.
Researchers blow whistle on forensic science method
If forensic experts have access to a suspect’s gun, they can compare the microscopic markings from discarded shell casings with those found at a crime scene. Finding and reporting a mismatch can help free the innocent, just as a match can incriminate the guilty. But new research reveals mismatches are more likely than matches to be reported as “inconclusive” in cartridge-case comparisons.
National Academies report identifies ways to reduce intergenerational poverty in US
Irvine, Calif., Sept. 25, 2023 — A report released Thursday, Sept. 21, by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine identifies evidence-based programs and policies, such as increased K-12 spending for school districts serving low-income students, to combat intergenerational poverty in the United States.
University at Albany, Rand Study Links Legal Representation to Reduced Reliance on Bail
Having a defense attorney present at an initial bail hearing lowered the use of cash bail and pretrial detention without increasing the odds that a defendant won’t show up at a preliminary hearing, according to a new study co-authored by UAlbany Professor of Public Administration and Policy Shawn Bushway.
Study: New York’s Bail Reform Law Did Not Increase Crime
New York’s bail reform law had a negligible effect on crime, a study by a recent PhD recipient and a professor in the University at Albany’s School of Criminal Justice found.
DePaul University experts available to discuss Chicago mayoral run-off, issues that will decide race
CHICAGO — As Chicago voters head to the polls in less than a month to decide whether Brandon Johnson, a Cook County Board Commissioner, or Paul Vallas, a former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, will be the next mayor of the third largest city in the U.S., DePaul University faculty experts are available to provide insight and commentary.
Better eyewitness lineup improves accuracy, detecting innocence
Iowa State researchers have developed and repeatedly tested a procedure that captures more information from eyewitnesses and improves the accuracy of lineups in police investigations.
DePaul University experts available to discuss upcoming Chicago elections
As Chicago voters head to the polls in less than a month to decide the next mayor of the third largest city in the U.S.—in addition to aldermanic elections in all 50 city wards—DePaul University faculty experts are available to provide insight and commentary.
UC Irvine online criminology master’s program again rated No. 1 in nation
Irvine, Calif., Jan. 24, 2023 – The University of California, Irvine Master of Advanced Study in criminology, law and society has been named the nation’s best online criminal justice master’s program by U.S. News & World Report for the fourth year in a row. The 2023 rankings mark the sixth consecutive year in which the UCI program has placed in the top three.
Study: Community Violence Interventionists Face On-the-Job Violence, Secondary Trauma
Two newly published articles by researchers at the University at Albany and Northwestern University show the extent to which civilians working to intervene in and de-escalate street violence face job-related violence themselves, as well as secondary trauma from that violence.
ASA Annual Meeting, Aug. 5-9, Los Angeles; Press Registration Open
Sociologists to Explore Topics of Gun Violence, Policing, Housing Insecurity, Abortion Rights, and More at ASA Annual Meeting, Aug. 5-9, Los Angeles; Press Registration Open
As Gun Deaths Surge, Researchers Focus on Experiences of Community Violence Interventionists
Landmark study reveals extreme levels of exposure to violence, risk of being shot for street outreach workers.
PSPI Live: Test a Witness’s Memory of a Suspect Only Once
PSPI Live is an online symposium series that highlights papers published in the APS journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest (PSPI).
Legal language affects how police officers are judged
Research by social psychology doctoral student Mikaela Spruill and her adviser, Neil Lewis Jr., assistant professor of communication, revealed that referring to police using the legal phrase “objectively reasonable” puts the officer in a more favorable light, regardless of race.
Police Training Needs Urgent Reforms, New Report from American University Reveals
The instructional models that are used to train police officers across the U.S. are in many cases antiquated, inadequate, and in critical need of immediate transformation, according to a new report by American University’s School of Public Affairs.
Bowen Law School Receives $1 million from Walmart to Fund Court Observation Project
The UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law has received a $1 million grant from Walmart, Inc. The grant will fund a Court Observation Project through Bowen’s new Center for Racial Justice and Criminal Justice Reform. The project will introduce a state-wide court observation initiative that will create and share a transparent body of reliable data and research about Arkansas’s criminal justice system that is otherwise unavailable in the state.
FAU Kicks Off Fall 2021 Virtual ‘Research in Action’ Series
“Research in Action” is a virtual weekly talk series on Zoom. Each week, participants can listen to experts in their fields as they present their latest research and participate in question-and-answer sessions.
National Institute of Justice funds UCI evaluation of new Orange County Jail program
Irvine, Calif., Aug. 24, 2021 – The Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the University of California, Irvine are partnering to determine whether changing the jail experience can improve outcomes for young men upon their release.
Jon Gould is named dean of UCI’s School of Social Ecology
Irvine, Calif., July 13, 2021 — Jon Gould, a distinguished scholar in justice policy, social change and government reform who has held key positions in the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Science Foundation, will become the new dean of the School of Social Ecology at the University of California, Irvine, following a nationwide search.
UCI experts produce guide for defense attorneys fighting use of rap lyrics in trials
Irvine, Calif., June 9, 2021 — Criminology and legal experts at the University of California, Irvine have released Rap on Trial: A Legal Guide for Attorneys, to help protect artists from having their lyrics used against them in court. Rap lyrics have been introduced as evidence in hundreds of cases, and a high-profile ruling by the Maryland Court of Appeals recently allowed a few lines of rap to help put a man behind bars for 50 years.
Policing and Racism, Insights from Psychological Science: Expert Panel
On May 21, the Association for Psychological Science (APS) will convene a panel of experts on policing and racism to discuss the latest scientific data and share insights into the factors behind racial bias during police encounters. Journalists are invited…
UA Little Rock Receives Nearly $325,000 NSF Grant to Shine Light on Muslim Hate Crimes in Arkansas
Two criminal justice professors at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock have been awarded a $324,987 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund a three-year program to study anti-Muslim sentiment and Muslim hate crimes in Arkansas. Dr. Tusty ten Bensel, director of the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology, and Dr.
2021 Posters on the Hill Spotlights Exemplary Undergraduate Research Projects for Policymakers, Scholars, and the Public
Via a virtual public poster session on April 28, undergraduate researchers from colleges and universities in 42 states and the District of Columbia will share their research projects in the 2021 Posters on the Hill event, sponsored by the Council on Undergraduate Research.
Five factors that led to Chauvin guilty verdicts
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted April 20 on three charges in the death of George Floyd. Collectively, people across the country breathed a sigh of relief because far too often, the story has been police killing people of color with impunity, says an expert on race and the law at Washington University in St.
Policing Expert Available to Discuss Derek Chauvin Verdict, Police Policy and Californians’ Views on Police Reform
Christine Gardiner, professor of criminal justice at California State University, Fullerton, is available to discuss the verdict of the Derek Chauvin trial, policing policy, and results from a California public opinion poll conducted in August of 2020, within months of…
IU experts available to comment on shooting at FedEx facility in Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS and BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — A gunman opened fire at the FedEx Ground Plainfield Operations Center on Thursday, April 15, killing eight people and injuring at least seven others. The suspected gunman is believed to have committed suicide. The Indianapolis…
UCI online criminology master’s program ranked #1 in the nation for second year in a row
Irvine, Calif., Jan. 26, 2021 — The University of California, Irvine Master of Advanced Study in criminology, law & society has been named the nation’s best online criminal justice master’s program by U.S. News & World Report for the second year in a row. The 2021 rankings also mark the fourth consecutive year in which UCI has placed in the top three.
Maryland Carey Law Experts Available to Discuss Impeachment, Inauguration Security, Capitol Violence
The University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law has faculty experts available to comment on several aspects of the recent attempted insurrection at the United States Capitol including impeachment, inauguration security/new threats to state capitols, and the police…
Policing Expert’s Studies Show Proposed Bill to Change Required Age, Education for California Cops has Merit
National and California studies by Christine Gardiner, professor of criminal justice at Cal State Fullerton, show college-educated officers are better at documenting investigation, more technology efficient, and may be less resistant to organizational change.
Restorative justice preferred among the Enga in Papua New Guinea
A study analyzing 10 years of court cases of the Enga of Papua New Guinea show that they overwhelmingly emphasize restorative justice, allowing all sides to share their side of the story, the community assists paying compensation to the victim, and supports reintegrating the offender back into society.
States Unfairly Burdening Incarcerated People with “Pay-to-Stay” Fees
Pay-to-stay, the practice of charging people to pay for their own jail or prison confinement, is being enforced unfairly by using criminal, civil and administrative law, according to a new Rutgers University-New Brunswick led study.
Researchers from Arizona State University examine risk factors in intimate-partner homicides
Domestic violence was already considered an epidemic long before COVID-19 impacted the world, but the pandemic has caused an uptick in abuse cases, creating a greater need for awareness, education and intervention. October marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month – a time…
Charging officers in Breonna Taylor’s killing won’t fix ‘deeply flawed’ system
On Tuesday, the mayor of Louisville, Kentucky declared a state of emergency for the city in advance of the attorney general’s announcement regarding possible charges against the police officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor in March. Joe Margulies,…
Expert on law enforcement in schools can comment on racial disparities, push for change
With the nation’s growing awareness of systemic racism and the deaths of Black men and women at the hands of police, many communities are reconsidering their policy of assigning officers to school buildings and questioning whether those salaries would be…
Criminal justice professor fights for prisoners’ families
The odds of Breanna Boppre ending up in the correctional system were astronomically higher than the odds of her becoming Dr. Breanna Boppre, assistant professor of criminal justice at Wichita State University.
Jurors respond negatively to police overreactions to Black Americans
Psychology and criminal justice researchers are now trying to determine the various influences of body-worn camera footage, such as its impact on trial outcomes.
Domestic Abuse and COVID-19
As COVID-19 spread across the globe, ravaging a path of illness and death, public health and government officials championed shelter-in-place orders to provide a safe haven away from the virus. But months later, preliminary data shows that the lockdown orders had the opposite effect on one particular demographic: Victims of intimate partner violence who were trapped at home with their abusers.
Place doesn’t trump race as predictor of incarceration
Steven Alvarado is the author of “The Complexities of Race and Place: Childhood Neighborhood Disadvantage and Adult Incarceration for Whites, Blacks, and Latinos,” published June 1 in the journal Socius, a study showing that for black Americans growing up in better neighborhoods doesn’t diminish the likelihood of going to prison nearly as much as it does for whites or Latinos.
IU experts available to comment on race, policing and criminal justice
Protests have erupted all over the nation in response to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other African Americans killed by police. The Black Lives Matter movement has called out these latest deaths as evidence of police brutality…
Policing one of many abuses inflicted by the criminal justice system
Protests against racism and police violence escalated across the country this week, with many protesters injured and arrested by police. Joe Margulies, professor of law and government at Cornell University, is a civil rights attorney and expert on the national…
National institute awards $20 million in renewed funding to forensic science center
Irvine, Calif., May 18, 2020 – The National Institute of Standards and Technology has awarded $20 million in renewed funding to the Center for Statistics and Applications in Forensic Evidence, an interdisciplinary group of more than 60 participants at the University of California, Irvine and five other U.S. institutions of higher education.
Criminal Justice Expert Available to Discuss Coronavirus and the U.S. Justice System
ALBANY, N.Y. (March 19, 2020) – The COVID-19 crisis is causing a wave of disruptions in the U.S. justice system, with state and federal courts across the country suspending trials and other legal proceedings to help contain the pandemic. Theodore…
Donor gives $2M gift to Tulane Law to expand innovative Women’s Prison Project
The Women’s Prison Project is a first-of-its-kind collaboration between Tulane’s Domestic Violence and Criminal Justice clinic.
Weinstein case indicates ‘cultural shift’ in perception of abuse
Harvey Weinstein was found guilty on Monday for several criminal charges of sexual assault that included rape, though was found not guilty on other charges. Vanessa Bohns, associate professor of organizational behavior Cornell University’s ILR School, studies the psychology of…
Study: How crime fears, cultural anxiety, and gender shape gun ownership
UAB’s Tara Warner explores why some individuals are more likely to own guns than others.
Race effect: Researchers find black offenders more likely to be arrested than white offenders when committing violent crime together
Racial disparities at every level of the criminal justice system in America are well documented. Now, a new study by Florida State University researchers reveals it also exists at the initial level of arrest, even when the crime is committed by a diverse pair of co-offenders.
As ‘Orange is the New Black’ Ends, UNLV Professor Explores How Conditions Have Changed for Incarcerated Women
The Litchfield Correctional Facility in upstate New York might be the fictitious background of Netflix’s hit series “Orange is the New Black.” But the stories of the inmates — portrayed by Hollywood actresses — could be easily found throughout real…