This is the thing that drives me nuts - governments and experts who insist that the problems of our criminal court system are unfixably complex, when in fact many of the best solutions are staring us right in the face.

“The data on our criminal court system reflects a very intuitive reality: when you’re using violence, lack of opportunity, trauma, to try to get people to thrive, it’s not happening!” - @galvinalmanza.bsky.social Listen to the full conversation today. ⤵️

Explore how justice practitioners can improve everyday interactions to build trust and ensure accountability. ⤵️ criminaljustice.cityofnewyork.us/reports/roun...

Happening this Thursday, 1/22! ➡️ Register here: jjay-cuny.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Revisit our policy brief from last year, which makes the case for drawing a firm line when it comes to using #AI in decisions that could impact people’s liberty or cause serious harm. https://www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/dos-and-donts-ai-criminal-justice-system/

"This was an essential puzzle piece that was missing from the bigger picture of what the young people needed," Project Director of our Bronx Community Justice Center Deymis Baquero said. @abc7ny.bsky.social: abc7ny.com/post/loyalty...

For 25 years, our Harlem Community Justice Center has helped people access justice and secure a better future. Today, it served as the backdrop for @mayor.nyc.gov's appointment of Afua Atta-Mensah as the new Chief Equity Officer and Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice.

📣 *Happening now* 📣 in Harlem’s historic courthouse, and the home of our Harlem Community Justice Center, Mayor Zohran Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov making major personnel announcement: youtu.be/fNVDPV_a39s

As a founding partner of the newly launched AI and Justice Consortium, we are proud to work as bridge builders between tech companies and the justice system to make sure we get #AI right in the justice space. Join the Consortium for their first panel in collaboration with @johnjayrec.bsky.social. ⤵️

We've been serving Harlemites for more than two decades at our Harlem Community Justice Center. Later today, watch as @mayor.nyc.gov Zohran Mamdani makes a major personnel announcement from the historic Harlem Community Justice Center courtroom.⤵️ 📍 Find the stream here: www.nyc.gov/main?utm_med...

It's me! And yes I have some ideas. Take your mind off ~everything else~ and come think about something constructive <3

🚨 Our new report in partnership with the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC) answers a central question in today’s public safety debate: We don’t need to choose between keeping communities safe and building a more fair and just system. ⬇️ for takeaways and recommendations.

With a 60% recidivism rate, it’s clear the criminal justice system isn’t working. ⬇️ Listen as @galvinalmanza.bsky.social explores what her long career as a public defender and being co-founder and executive director of @partnersforjustice.bsky.social taught her about how we solve the crisis.

Mass incarceration takes a tremendous toll on communities across the country. Yet misconceptions about crime and incarceration often block the path to implementing common-sense solutions. Here are three core problems that need to be addressed and practical responses to help us move forward. ⤵️

Restorative justice circles are meant to address harm and conflict by inviting everyone involved to really listen to each other. But what do these circles actually look like in practice? https://www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/what-is-a-restorative-justice-rj-circle/

Like any important reform, there are myths about restorative justice that make it hard to separate fact from fiction. Here are four common misconceptions about restorative justice and why they miss the mark. ⤵️ https://www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/restorative-justice-rj-myths-facts/

@news12.bsky.social rode along with our Community Care van to find out more about the on-the-go check-ins and services available for people awaiting trial. Joe, a participant, says this approach "keeps people out of jail. It gives them an opportunity to fix their life without being incarcerated.” 👇

How do we support those whose lives are spent supporting others? Hear from Ruth O'Sullivan and our team as they discuss the realities of vicarious trauma in community justice work and why support matters now more than ever. https://www.innovatingjustice.org/resources/vicarious-trauma-360/

Looking to catch up on some research you may have missed? Check out these 3 resources that give reformers new strategies to break cycles of rearrest and create a justice system that leaves people better off. ⤵️ https://www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/justice-system-reform-preventing-recidivism/

Travelling this holiday season and looking for something inspiring to listen to? Revisit our New Thinking episode featuring the real-life restorative justice story behind the hit Broadway show “Punch.” 🎧 https://www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/punch-broadway-true-story-podcast/

Every family deserves to live in a safe, decent home, not just during the holidays but all year round. In New York and beyond, our teams are building bridges and increasing access to housing justice in three key ways.⤵️ https://www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/safe-healthy-housing-holiday-outages/

“We’re putting ourselves in a community where there’s a feeling of security and safety, in an area that feels a lot more familiar,” says Curtis Huggins, who helps run the new community office. https://www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/pretrial-community-justice-east-new-york/

“That’s what keeps me going—knowing that the work we’re doing is meaningful and that we are making an impact.” Thaddeus Canty, Project Director at Red Hook Community Justice Center, discusses what brought him to the work, overcoming challenges with empathy, and the future of community justice.

Over the past five years, Syracuse’s Community Ambassadors have worked to keep more than 1,100 residents safely housed. They do that by serving as a bridge between residents, landlords, and city agencies amid widespread breakdowns in communication. ⤵️

Our Chief Executive Officer Courtney Bryan was recognized as a 2025 Nonprofit Power Player by amNewYork. 🎉 politicsny.com/power-lists/...

Help us build community justice this #GivingTuesday. Make a gift to join us in this life changing work. Whether it's $25, $50, $100, $250—any amount supports our mission! 🎁 www.innovatingjustice.org/donate/?c_sr...

Instead of responding to children and parents in isolation, Strong Starts does something unique and focuses on the relationship between them. ⤵️ www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/star...

We are proud to bring our vision of community justice to the Mayor-elect @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social transition team. We hope our nearly 30 years of experience crafting public safety solutions and building bridges between courts and communities will help make New York City safe and just for all.

When David, a single father, came to Family Court a decade ago with his then 1-year-old daughter Ovenia, the Strong Starts Court Initiative was a brand-new pilot program in the Bronx. 10 years later, the program has become a staple in family courts throughout New York City and upstate. ⤵️

With collaboration and care, we can transform the family court system in ways that are responsive to the unique needs of each family. www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/supp...

“Although gun violence and intimate partner violence often are seen as separate issues, they are overlapping and interdependent.” www.macfound.org/press/perspe...

Did you know that low-level misdemeanors make up over 80% of cases in the justice system? Drawing on insights from practitioners around the country, our policy brief highlights ways to help people charged with low-level offenses resolve their case and get back on their feet as quickly as possible.

Implementing more thorough psychological assessments can help connect people in the justice system to care and increase their chances of success in programs that keep them out of jail and prison. Find key aspects of those assessments and explore examples of how they can support better outcomes. ⤵️

Drawing on our experience providing hands-on guidance in three rural jurisdictions, this new report offers concrete tips to improve data capacity for rural public defense systems. ⤵️ www.innovatingjustice.org/resources/gu...

The evidence is clear: counsel at first appearance strengthens both public safety and the fairness of the system. This new policy brief offers practical advice for how to ensure the push for counsel at first appearance transforms into reality on the ground. ⤵️

By shifting to responses that provide support, we can build a justice system that puts people on track for a better, safer future. Find our latest resources here: www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/just...

Strong communities are safe communities. What would change if all of our policies—inside and outside of the legal system—reflected that basic truth? www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/what...

Community justice takes all of us. We look forward to continuing our work building safety and justice across New York City with @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social and in New Jersey with @mikiesherrill.bsky.social.

Engaging people who have caused harm in intimate relationships is a crucial part of supporting survivors, fostering healthier relationships, and ending domestic violence in our communities. www.innovatingjustice.org/resources/ac...

"As we wring our hands about the state of masculinity, or about how isolating our AI-dominated future might be, groups like Healing Connections are all the more essential." A practitioner shares his experience with an accountability group for people who have caused harm in their relationships. ⤵️

“The real invitation of municipal courts is community accountability… Because they’re created and controlled by cities, accountability is no farther away than City Hall." Read more about the potential of municipal #courts in our interview with Alexandra Natapoff, professor at #Harvard Law School. ⤵️

“You’re not walking this alone,” Magaly Melendez, senior program manager of our Bronx HOPE, said. “This is for the community.” Learn more about the new mobile outreach van that's bringing harm reduction to people in the Bronx: www.bxtimes.com/new-bronx-co...

“Restorative justice is fundamentally about communication, enabling people who have been harmed by a crime to articulate its effects to the person who committed it, and to ask questions that perhaps only that person can answer.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/t...

We’re proud to work alongside Artistic Noise, bringing artistic expression to our Project Reset participants in New York City. 🎨 Learn more about their work here. ⤵️

“We criminalize low-level, often harmless, conduct, sweeping in millions of people in ways that have flown beneath the radar.” Revisit our New Thinking #podcast episode featuring Alexandra Natapoff, professor at Harvard Law School, on the realities of misdemeanors in the US criminal justice system.

Expanding access to treatment and reducing incarceration makes our communities safer. Read about the push to expand mental health courts in @nysfocus.bsky.social: nysfocus.com/2025/10/17/m...

Municipal courts can leave people with overwhelming fines and even jail time for low-level offenses. But they also have the potential to deliver justice in innovative ways. We discussed the challenges and opportunities of these courts with Professor Alexandra Natapoff of Harvard Law School:

@news12bx.bsky.social hopped on board our Bronx HOPE van to learn more about the latest initiative to bring healing and recovery to the Bronx community. Watch today: bronx.news12.com/mobile-overd...

Watch as Former AG Loretta Lynch and the First Lady of Oklahoma Sarah Stitt discuss the Women's Justice Commission's findings and recommendations on @msnbc.com The report aims to discover the unique factors that drive women into the justice system and how we can address these factors. ⤵️

The play, based on a remarkable true story of redemption after a one-punch manslaughter, illustrates how restorative justice can help people move forward after serious harm.