Is Prison The Answer To Violence?
The Marshall Project
One of the myths of criminal justice reform is that you can cut the prison population in half by freeing non-violent offenders: the guy who sold a little weed to his classmates, the shoplifter, people who have done stupid things but aren't necessarily scary. As you know, more than half of those who are incarcerated are there for violent crimes, and many of those who are sentenced for nonviolent crimes plead down from more serious charges. These are people who frighten us — and they really frighten politicians. You want us to think differently about them. Explain.
Expanding the Reach of Victim Services
Common Justice
Maximizing the Potential of VOCA Funding for Underserved Survivors
We are at a moment of extraordinary opportunity for victims of crime. In 2015, the federal budget for Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funds increased by $1.6 billion—from $745 million to $2.361 billion.1 These funds represent the single largest source of funding for victim services in the United States. An increase of this size is unprecedented for VOCA.
Beyond Innocence
Common Justice
Toward a Framework for Serving All Survivors of Crime
Our media, our culture, and even some of our statutes continually reinforce the idea that in order to be deserving of care, a victim of crime has to be innocent. Sometimes innocence is tied to some intangible yet narrow notion of purity that our culture uses to assign value and, most often, recognize vulnerability. Sometimes innocence is a matter for the courts, the opposite of legally determined guilt.