Vera Institute of Justice | State of Justice Reform 2019
Vera Institute of Justice

State of Justice Reform 2019

  • Rikers to Close, LA Jails Stopped
  • Immigrant Detentions Continue to Rise
  • New York’s New Bail Reform Model
  • Black Women Prosecutors Under Fire
  • FIRST STEP’s Rough First Year
  • Administration Sets New Barriers for Refugees
  • States Adopt New Strategies Against Opioids
  • Mixed Results for State Justice Reform
  • West Coast Rethinks Juvenile Justice
  • Police Shootings Continue to Make Headlines
  • Voting Rights Restored for Justice-Involved
  • Marijuana Laws Loosened
  • More States Embrace Clemency
  • Year Sees Most Mass Shootings on Record
  • Supreme Court Tackles Fines
Best of 2019
  • Rikers to Close, LA Jails Stopped
  • Immigrant Detentions Continue to Rise
  • New York’s New Bail Reform Model
  • Black Women Prosecutors Under Fire
  • FIRST STEP’s Rough First Year
  • Administration Sets New Barriers for Refugees
  • States Adopt New Strategies Against Opioids
  • Mixed Results for State Justice Reform
  • West Coast Rethinks Juvenile Justice
  • Police Shootings Continue to Make Headlines
  • Voting Rights Restored for Justice-Involved
  • Marijuana Laws Loosened
  • More States Embrace Clemency
  • Year Sees Most Mass Shootings on Record
  • Supreme Court Tackles Fines
  • Rikers to Close, LA Jails Stopped
  • Immigrant Detentions Continue to Rise
  • New York’s New Bail Reform Model
  • Black Women Prosecutors Under Fire
  • FIRST STEP’s Rough First Year
  • Administration Sets New Barriers for Refugees
  • States Adopt New Strategies Against Opioids
  • Mixed Results for State Justice Reform
  • West Coast Rethinks Juvenile Justice
  • Police Shootings Continue to Make Headlines
  • Voting Rights Restored for Justice-Involved
  • Marijuana Laws Loosened
  • More States Embrace Clemency
  • Year Sees Most Mass Shootings on Record
  • Supreme Court Tackles Fines
Contributors Best of 2019

The State
of
Justice Reform
2019

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The Top 15 Justice Stories of 2019

While the federal government oversaw the rocky rollout of 2018’s FIRST STEP Act and worked to implement increasingly draconian immigration policies, state and local governments tackled criminal justice reform: transforming money bail, shuttering jails, legalizing marijuana, restoring voting rights to those with conviction histories, and rethinking juvenile justice. The key to many of these changes? Grassroots work by activists and advocates. But some problems seemed intractable: the year saw the most mass shootings on record, and the justice system remains marked by stark racial disparities. Join Vera as we recap the stories that shaped American justice in 2019.

Rikers to Close, LA Jails Stopped
Immigrant Detentions Continue to Rise
New York’s New Bail Reform Model
Black Women Prosecutors Under Fire
FIRST STEP’s Rough First Year
Administration Sets New Barriers for Refugees
States Adopt New Strategies Against Opioids
Mixed Results for State Justice Reform
West Coast Rethinks Juvenile Justice
Police Shootings Continue to Make Headlines
Voting Rights Restored for Justice-Involved
Marijuana Laws Loosened
More States Embrace Clemency
Year Sees Most Mass Shootings on Record
Supreme Court Tackles Fines
Contributors
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