criminal justice reform

RCC has justly hired former Suffolk County District Attorney and U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins to run its newly created Restorative Justice Project.

In the wake of a Boston Globe investigation that suggested that interim District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office declined to prosecute an MBTA police officer accused of misconduct, then received donations from the officer and his attorney, several local elected officials are calling on him to resign.

Four months into his administration, some are questioning District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s commitment to the bold criminal justice reforms voters chose when they elected Rollins in 2018.

On Saturday, June 26, activists from the Youth Justice and Power Union gathered at City Hall to demand a $120 million cut from the police budget and a cancellation of the new class of 250 police officers.

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and incarceration activist Andrea James discussed the importance of the People’s Justice Guarantee, a response to America’s corrupt justice system.

Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz is advancing legislation that would reinvest savings stemming from criminal justice reforms back into communities. Her Act to Reinvest Justice and Opportunity in Communities Affected by Incarceration was taken up as an amendment in the State Senate budget, passed May 28.

Protestors expressed optimism, determination during demonstrations last week.

The executive branch will have the authority to investigate police departments that are violating the civil rights of citizens.

With the revelation that Boston police buried allegations that a former officer and police union head sexually assaulted children for more than 20 years, the city’s police department is facing unprecedented pressure for change.

New research shows that refusing to prosecute some misdemeanors actually leads to less crime, despite fears that the tactic would increase crime.

The officers who worked with Chauvin almost certainly were not blind to his actions. As Chauvin’s knee slowly choked the life out of him, other officers either did nothing to assist Floyd, or worse, piled on to subdue a man already lying on the ground near death.

U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley reintroduced a wide-ranging resolution to overhaul the U.S. criminal-legal system. She first introduced the resolution — called the People’s Justice Guarantee — in November 2019, after consultation with advocates, community groups and people who have experienced incarceration.