Brennan Center for Justice

Founded in 1995 by the clerks and family of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., the Brennan Center is an independent, nonpartisan law and policy organization that works to reform and revitalize the country’s systems of democracy and justice. The Brennan Center’s Justice Program (Center) seeks to secure the nation’s promise of “equal justice for all” by creating a rational, effective, and fair criminal justice system. The program’s unique approach blends law, economics, and communications to produce new empirical analyses and innovative policy solutions, as well as leverage the voice and influence of law enforcement to advance this critical goal. The award supports the production of three research reports to study trends in bail reform across the United States and identify potential areas for further reform to reduce incarceration. The award also supports the partnership between the unique group of law enforcement leaders and SJC sites to help bring practical reforms and best practices to local jurisdictions. The project seeks to ensure that the public understands the consequences of mass incarceration (social, racial, economic), and enlist the unique voice of law enforcement as an ally for change. While the work is national in scope, the Center focuses on change at all levels of governance and collaborates closely with local, state, and national allies and provides a national platform to promote the Safety and Justice Challenge’s local justice reform efforts.

Founded in 1995 by the clerks and family of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., the Brennan Center is an independent, nonpartisan law and policy organization that works to reform and revitalize the country’s systems of democracy and justice. The Brennan Center’s Justice Program (the Brennan Center or Center) seeks to secure the nation’s promise of “equal justice for all” by creating a rational, effective, and fair criminal justice system. The program’s unique approach blends law, economics, and communications to produce new empirical analyses and innovative policy solutions, as well as leverage the voice and influence of law enforcement to advance this critical goal. The award supports the production of two reports that address—and recommend solutions to—two major challenges to ending over-incarceration: the complex web of bias and misaligned incentives that perpetuate the current system, and the penalization of minor offenses that act as an entry point to America’s 3,000 local jails. The award also supports the partnership between the unique group of law enforcement leaders and Challenge Network sites to help bring practical reforms and best practices to local jurisdictions. The Brennan Center seeks to ensure that the public understands the consequences of mass incarceration (social, racial, economic), and enlist the unique voice of law enforcement as an ally for change. While the work is national in scope, the Center focuses on change at all levels of governance and collaborates closely with local, state, and national allies and provides a national platform to promote the Safety and Justice Challenge’s local justice reform efforts.

The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that seeks to improve the systems of democracy and justice in the United States through a multidisciplinary approach. The Brennan Center’s Democracy Program works strategically to shape a national democracy agenda that will advance both federal and state reforms focused on the areas of voting, money in politics, redistricting, and fair courts. Brennan’s Democracy Program conducts research, convenes conferences, develops policy proposals, and participates in litigation. Its staff regularly analyzes important legal issues that relate to democracy in a way that is accessible to the public and the media. A MacArthur grant will support the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program.

The Brennan Center for Justice is a nonpartisan institute for law and policy, affiliated with New York University School of Law. The Center will use this grant to convene a roundtable discussion among experts, practitioners, and advocates to explore potential strategies to address reducing disparities as an explicit and integral part of criminal justice systems reform, and the trade-offs; and develop a report synthesizing the roundtable’s discussion into specific recommendations for concrete and practical activities that will be made available to the field and the general public.

The Brennan Center for Justice is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that seeks to improve the nation’s systems of democracy and justice. The Brennan Center’s Democracy Program works to defend campaign finance laws, oppose laws that restrict the rights of voters, promote fair judicial standards, and push for pro-active reforms that would establish meaningful public financing for candidates, and modernize the voter registration system. The Brennan Center employs a multifaceted approach of broad public education through strategic communications and legal, grassroots, legislative, and research strategies with a goal of long-term fundamental revitalization of our nation’s democratic institutions.