Tagged: new york criminal justice reform

       A CALL FOR PAPERS FOR A SYMPOSIUM ISSUE

The Pace Law Review

The Pace Law Review at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University invites submissions for an interdisciplinary conference on the theme of  “Game-changing Reforms in the NYS Criminal Justice System and How to Implement Them” to be held on March 20, 2020 at the NYS Judicial Institute on the campus of the law school.

In the last few years, culminating in the last legislative session, the New York State Legislature, the New York State courts, as well as the government of New York City, have enacted a number of far reaching reforms in criminal procedure and related criminal justice issues.  These changes include (but are not limited to) the following: raising the age of criminal responsibility to 18 years; comprehensive bail reform; discovery reform; major changes in the speedy trial statute; the anticipated closing of the Rikers Island detention and correctional facilities; significant changes in the imposition of solitary confinement of state prisoners; the expansion of the use of desk appearance tickets (and the consequent reduction of the number of custodial overnight detentions); expansion of the use of video-recorded police interrogations; expanded use of police body cameras in NYC; proliferation of conviction integrity programs in New York State district attorney’s offices; creation of a Prosecutorial Conduct Commission; and the large increase in funding of public defender offices statewide as part of the Hurrell-Harring case settlement.  Each of these reforms deserve considered analysis and debate.

This symposium will provide a forum for policymakers, jurists, academics, criminal law practitioners (on both the prosecution and defense side), students and concerned citizens to engage in a thorough discussion of criminal justice reform.  These changes share some common themes—an overall trend towards decarceration, increased use of modern technology in street policing, and increased emphasis on the prosecutorial obligation to share information, accelerate the process, avoid misconduct and prevent or correct wrongful convictions.

These changes in New York State reflect national trends in favor of bail and discovery reform, decarceration, and increased concern about wrongful convictions.  They also reflect changes in the modern prosecutor’s role and a 21st century model of organized policing.  Fixing a close gaze on New York and both its upstate and downstate counties, will provide insight for our national discussion about how we should create and maintain a just criminal process.

New York is one of the largest states in the nation and has an enormous criminal justice system.  Major changes in the law like those listed above will have significant effects in other states as well.  The far reaching impact of these reforms might include changes in policy, distribution of resources, rethinking what we mean by fairness and due process in criminal matters, and the proper balance between social control and individual liberty—all are implicated in these reforms.  Our federal system contemplates the various states as “laboratories” of justice.  With these reforms, New York once again is coming to the forefront in that role.  A Pace Law Review symposium issue containing excellent and insightful scholarship on matters of criminal justice policy, procedure, practice and jurisprudence would be a valuable resource both locally and nationally.

The Pace Law Review and the Pace Criminal Justice Institute invite you to be a part of that discussion.

We welcome full-length traditional law review articles with a maximum of 65 pages, as well as shorter essays and commentaries with a minimum of 10 pages.  Authors will be selected based on brief abstracts of their articles, essays or commentaries. We are looking for different perspectives on the goals and challenges of implementing the historic criminal justice reforms throughout New York State.

To submit, please send:

  1. Your name, title and professional affiliation
  2. Your curriculum vitae/resume
  3. Your contact details, including phone number and email address
  4. A two-three page abstract summarizing your article or essay and indicating what your expected page length will be.

Please submit your abstract for consideration to: Managing Editor Mellis Bakir at: mbakir@law.pace.edu.

Submission Deadlines

Abstract Deadline: November 25, 2019

Selection Notification Date: December 13, 2019

Article/Essay Deadline: February 28, 2020

If you have any questions about this call for papers, please contact Mellis Bakir at: mbakir@law.pace.edu or Carol Barry (Director of the Pace Criminal Justice Institute) at: cbarry@law.pace.edu.

 

 

 

NYC Board of Corrections Issues Restrictions on Solitary Confinement

POST WRITTEN BY: Michael B. Mushlin, Professor of Law at Pace Law School, Scholar, and Renowned Expert on Prisoners’ Rights. 

Continuing a national trend the New York City Board of Correction yesterday unanimously voted sweeping changes to the use of solitary confinement in New York City Jails. The reforms eliminate the use of solitary confinement entirely for anyone under the age of 18, for anyone 18 to 21 years old (this goes into effect in 2016), and for anyone with serious mental or serious physical disabilities or conditions. Terms in solitary for all others cannot exceed 30 consecutive days for a single infraction,  and more than 60 days in any six month period. Due process protections are also expanded under these rule changes which will help limit the imposition of solitary on persons who did not break rules.

The changes voted by the Board of Correction address the major justification offered by opponents of solitary reform who have argued that solitary is necessary to contain the “worst of the worst,” inmates who are so violent that they cannot be safely confined in the general prison population. To deal with inmates who have acted in violent ways and who might pose a threat, the rules adopted by the Board of Correction allow for the creation of “Enhanced security Housing.” This housing allows the department to separate inmates who are violent without imposing solitary confinement on them. In these units inmates will be given services including psychological and mental health treatment to help them cope with violent tendencies and will not be locked into their cells 23 hours a day.

In the words of the Executive Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union the changes approved yesterday demonstrates that

New York City has taken an important stand for basic human rights and reaffirmed its commitment to the safety of prisoners, prison staff and our communities.

The reforms are a critical step in the national movement to end the shameful practice of solitary confinement in our nations penal institutions.

Related Readings:

No Recording of Police Interrogation in New York

On May 1, 2009, Jonathan Lippman, Chief Judge of the State of New York, announced the creation of the New York State Justice Task Force—one of the first permanent task forces on wrongful convictions in the United States. The Justice Task Force was formed to study wrongful convictions, learn the causes of wrongful conviction, and propose recommendations to make wrongful convictions less likely to occur

Information about the Task Force, its mission and members, as well as its recommendations, can be found here.

Among other criminal justice proposals, the Task Force is unanimously recommending electronic recording of police interrogation because

recording can aid not only the innocent, the defense and the prosecution, but also enhances public confidence in the criminal justice system by increasing transparency as to what was said and done during the interrogation. Indeed, among its many benefits, recording helps identify false confessions; provides an objective and reliable record of what occurred during an interrogation; assists the judge and jury in determining a statement’s voluntariness and reliability; prevents disputes about how an officer conducted himself or treated a suspect, and serves as a useful training tool to police officers.

Over 800 jurisdictions nationwide, including the states of Alaska, Minnesota and Illinois, regularly record police interrogations. A 2004 study conducted by Illinois officials of 200 locations that implemented this reform found that police departments overwhelmingly embrace the measure as good law enforcement whose time has come. www.innocenceproject.org

Certainly recording of interrogation could have prevented the wrongful conviction of Jabbar Washington, whose case is discussed once again in the New York Times this morning.

But legislation to require recording of police interrogation is being blocked in New York by the recalcitrance of the NYC District Attorneys. Why don’t our district attorneys join collective efforts to improve the criminal justice system? Why shouldn’t New York be in the forefront of criminal justice reform? Why are we lagging behind?