Michael Jacobson is quoted in a column in today's Philadelphia Inquirer about Philadelphia's criminal justice system, which some have labeled broken.

To find a solution, "there has to be recognition by multiple parties that the system is broken," says Michael P. Jacobson, president of the Vera Institute of Justice, which offers independent analysis for legal systems in 30 states. "Then you need a diagnosis of what's going on, literally mapping the system."

Jeremy Travis, president of New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice, says, "You need a series of interlocking agencies with distinct lines of accountability. Unless a criminal justice system recognizes it works as an entity - all branches working together to work better - the forces at work will pull in opposite directions."