Local courts process nearly 4/5 criminal cases each year. Here's how they can advance justice and equity nationally. ⤵️ We partnered with @jlusa.org to explore how the diverse network of local courts across the US could offer a pathway to community-led justice. Find the full report. ⤵️

Two new murals in Crown Heights, painted for and by the community, show how community safety champions leave their mark on the community. 🎨

WEBINAR: Our next webinar in our "Co-Designing Community Justice" series takes us to Brooklyn, examining how Neighbors in Action shifts power and change narratives through youth engagement. 📆 Wednesday, July 15 🕐 1 - 2:30 PM ET 📍 Zoom: Register here. ⤵️

JOIN US: Celebrate Juneteenth in Bed-Stuy with our RISE Project, Neighbors in Action, Councilmember Chi Ossé, and more! 📅 Friday, June 19 🕛 12 - 8 PM ET (but swing by whenever!) 📍 Herbert Von King Park, Brooklyn Enjoy games, self-care, and free food in the vibrant sunrays of freedom.

What if we could identify people with mental health needs before they're exposed to the trauma of incarceration? L.A. County's Intake Booking Diversion Program set out to do just that. Check out key findings from our new evaluation of the program:

Instead of advancing change exclusively in the justice system or in communities, community courts serve as a bridge between the two. Amanda Berman of the Center reflects on the unique value of these "bridge-builders and problem-solvers" in the Northwestern University Law Review ⤵️

Young people shouldn't have to change who they are to imagine a better future. This Gun Violence Awareness Month, learn how our peer mentors across NYC are preventing gun violence by helping young people take charge of their own stories.

Build lasting safety and justice with Community Justice Solutions. ⤵️ We help places, both rural and urban, design new ways to respond when crime and violence happen and recommend data-driven approaches to build safer communities. https://www.innovatingjustice.org/community-justice-solutions/

NEW: Reducing the number of people with mental health needs in jail means identifying those needs early. LA County launched a program to do just that, diverting people away from jail and into community-based treatment as early as possible. Check out our new evaluation of the initiative. ⤵️

NEW: Data is critical to driving change, but too often research and practice are kept apart.  At the Center, we bridge that gap in our own community work and advise communities across the country on how they can gather, interpret, and leverage data to strengthen safety and justice. 📊

Join Renita Francois, NYC's Deputy Mayor for Community Safety, and Elizabeth Glazer, @vitalcitynyc.bsky.social founder, for the first webinar in our Co-Designing Community Justice series. 📆 Register today: www.innovatingjustice.org/events/why-c...

NEW: Housing insecurity and justice involvement fuels a harmful cycle that traditional policy approaches have failed to break. Yet the tools to stop that cycle are well within reach. Access our new policy brief to find out how today. ⤵️

🧵 We're excited to launch Rubber Meets Road: Running Cities on Evidence. First up: street lighting and how cities can use it to reduce crime. 💡 Serious crime in New York City housing developments dropped by 35% when the lights went on Read the full package: www.vitalcitynyc.org/rubber-meets...

REGISTER NOW: Co-Designing Community Justice with Community Justice Solutions X Neighborhood Safety Initiatives. 📆 Tune into our first webinar on June 11 at 1 PM ET, ft. NYC’s Deputy Mayor of Community Safety Renita Francois and Liz Glazer @vitalcitynyc.bsky.social

For 30 years, we've transformed systems and communities to create a new status quo—one that’s fairer, safer, and more just. Hear from our CEO Courtney Bryan on how we’ll be building on three decades of expertise to bring proven, data-driven solutions to courts and communities across the country. ⤵️

This is one of the top concerns I see in public interest lawyering. It’s so important to take care of each other and ourselves so we can keep working on behalf of others.

Burnout and vicarious trauma can take a serious toll on people who devote their lives to supporting others. For Mental Health Awareness Month, here are four ways we can help change that. ⤵️

"Women’s Court does not dispense with accountability, but it seeks out the ways that systems may have failed these women. Then one by one, it tries to address those failings."

In many ways, the pedicab issue illustrates the broader problems of delivering justice in a fast-paced, complex environment like New York City. ⤵️

"Drivers have become so familiar with the Midtown court system that many of them know the presiding judge by name. The legal drivers, she said, are paying the price for the regulatory vacuum." Danielle Mindess, our Midtown Project Director, spoke to @gothamist.com about our recent report. ⤵️

NEW: New York City has a pedicab problem. In collaboration with Council Member Gale Brewer, Times Square Alliance, and Central Park Conservancy, we're proposing a roadmap to reform. 🚲

Today, we’re at John Jay for a “Harm Reduction After the War on Drugs: Reimagining New York’s Treatment System” event cohosted by the National Black Harm Reduction Network (NBHRN), Data Collaborative for Justice (DCJ), From Punishment to Public Health (P2PH), and Center for Justice Innovation.

Amid soaring rents and weakening protections for tenants, state and local governments have a critical role to play in preventing evictions. @shelterforce.bsky.social explores local initiatives working to keep families safely housed, including our housing resource centers in Red Hook and Harlem.

What if art could transform the justice system? Check out our conversation with Shamilia Tocruray, Director of Education at @brooklynmuseum.org, on how the arts can serve as a vehicle for reflection and social change.

Manhattan's Felony Alternative-to-Incarceration Court reimagines what accountability looks like in felony cases. ⚖️ In UC Law Journal, Grace Y. Li offers an in-depth analysis of the program and explores new possibilities for responding to crime: https://www.uclawjournal.org/in-place-of-prison/

What if the key to safety is the environment around us? 💡 Better lighting 🛝 New parks and playgrounds 🛠️ Long-overdue repairs That's the basis our Neighborhood Safety Initiatives team operates on, elevating voices of NYCHA residents themselves to work toward their own community safety solutions. ⤵️

“Knowing that you’re not alone in the process makes a difference, and it gives you that additional confidence,” said Kerry, a Brooklyn resident who remains safely housed after working with our Eviction Diversion Initiative to resolve her case. ⤵️ www.amny.com/law/advocate...

📆 EVENT: Join us May 4 to reimagine substance use treatment in NY. ⤵️ datacollaborativeforjustice.org/event/harm-r...

"Everyone here, every single day, is trying their best to help their neighbors in a direct and perhaps even life-changing way." – Judge Devin Robinson, Red Hook Community Justice Center Listen as Judge Robinson sits down with Law360 to discuss the innovative model. ⤵️ www.law360.com/articles/246...

“We help them in what is, for a lot of people, a crisis — a moment of vulnerability,” Viviana Gordon, who's leading our Eviction Diversion Initiative, told Central Current. Learn more about what the expansion of the Initiative will look like in Syracuse: centralcurrent.org/courts-advoc...

NEW: NY has dramatically shifted away from punitive drug enforcement—but major gaps remain in treatment access and racial equity. 🧵 📊 Read the report: datacollaborativeforjustice.org/work/diversi...

The Eviction Diversion Initiative, which supports tenants at risk of losing their homes, is expanding to more housing courts across the city and state. What began as a small pilot program to prevent evictions in Brooklyn and Long Island will now reach tenants across New York City and Upstate. ⤵️

How can we break cycles of rearrest and create a justice system that leaves people better off? ⤵️

Revisit this special episode of #NewThinking, where we discuss why navigating vicarious trauma effectively is a crucial part of building community justice together. ⤵️

How Project Reset puts people on track for a brighter future. ⤵️ www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/a-cr...

New data from 10 years of tracking people released pretrial across 12+ #SafetyandJusticeChallenge cities & counties: the majority of people released pretrial were not rebooked for any crime. Locally responsive reforms work. More on our blog, in collaboration with @innovatingjustice.bsky.social.

🎉 Announcing the Inside Literary Prize 2026 Shortlist! 🎉 Congratulations to the incredible authors shortlisted for the third annual #InsideLiteraryPrize, the first-ever US literary prize awarded exclusively by currently incarcerated people. Learn more about the Prize today. ⤵️

Does your organization support tenants living in market-rate apartments?⤵️ 🎉 We're excited to present: Good Cause NYC, a guide for tenants living in market-rate housing that explains a New York State law called Good Cause Eviction. Learn more here: welcometocup.org/projects/goo...

Roy Austin, Jr., who runs @howardlawai.bsky.social, is trying to ensure #AI is used safely and responsibly in the criminal justice system. On our latest episode of #NewThinking, Austin argues that AI isn’t so much a story about technology as it is about people. Listen today. ⤵️

What if the key to safety is the environment around us? 💡 Better lighting 🛝 New parks and playgrounds 🛠️ Long-overdue repairs That's the basis our Neighborhood Safety Initiatives team operates on, elevating voices of NYCHA residents themselves to work toward their own community safety solutions. ⤵️

AI is already shaping the justice system, but how do we ensure it's used responsibly? Learn about how lessons learned from the use of risk assessments can inform adoption of AI in the justice space. ⤵️

How do we ensure #AI helps, rather than sets back, the cause of fairness and justice? Roy Austin Jr., director at Howard Law Artificial Intelligence Initiative, explores this question on our latest episode of #NewThinking. Listen now. 🎙️

In the midst of an acute housing crisis, outreach teams with our Community Ambassadors program in Syracuse are supporting their neighbors in a unique way. ⤵️ Learn more today: https://www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/syracuse-community-ambassadors-help-their-neighbors-affordable-housing-crisis/

NEW: A reform that helped hundreds of New Yorkers get out of life-threatening conditions in jail serves as a valuable model for safe and effective alternatives to incarceration, according to our new analysis. 📊

Restorative justice circles address harm and conflict by inviting everyone involved to really listen to each other. But what do these circles actually look like in practice? ⤵️

Reducing the use of incarceration and implementing new approaches can *strengthen* public safety, our new report finds. ⤵️

Happy publication day to @galvinalmanza.bsky.social! Check out our recent podcast episode where we discuss her new book "The Price of Mercy: Unfair Trials, a Violent System, and a Public Defender’s Search for Justice in America." Out today at your local bookstore! 📚

When Twyla Carter started working as a public defender, her mission was simple—to be an advocate for people whose voices had been taken away. Today, she leads @legalaidnyc.bsky.social, the largest and oldest nonprofit law firm in the country. Yet her fundamental mission hasn’t changed. ⤵️

In 2025, as communities across the country faced unprecedented challenges, we continued to build bridges between systems, community members, and the people most impacted.  Check out our impact report today. ⤵️

The Society for Professional Journalists and Prison Journalism Project are accepting submissions for the third annual Stillwater Awards. The deadline: Feb. 16. Nominate your favorite incarcerated writer!