criminal justice

State & Hill

Getting curious about public policy with Jonathan Van Ness

Dec 17, 2024

Celebrated, Emmy Award-winning TV producer (Queer Eye), bestselling author, and host of the popular podcast Getting Curious, Jonathan Van Ness, who identifies as non-binary, has used their platform to champion a range of social issues close to their...

Getting Curious Live with Jonathan Van Ness

News

Students give second chance sentencing a closer look and influence a statewide debate

Apr 23, 2024

Last fall, five Ford School students in the Strategic Public Policy Consulting class launched a research project on a Michigan criminal justice reform bill called the Second Chance Sentencing Act. At the time, no one imagined the students would...

Students standing in a courtroom after a public briefing

News

Consulting practice: students gain experience working with policy clients

Jan 18, 2024

“Research and consulting projects rarely go as planned,” Professor Jefferey Morenoff reassured his PubPol578 students as they prepared to present a semester’s worth of findings. The Ford School’s Strategic Public Policy Consulting (SPPC) course...

State & Hill

Faculty news, fall 2023

Dec 12, 2023

Axelrod's adventures Robert Axelrod, William D. Hamilton Distinguished University Professor Emeritus, writes about the difficulties and rewards of interdisciplinary collaboration in his new autobiography, A Passion for Cooperation: Adventures...

Headshots of Axelrod, Cavaillé, Michelmore, Neggers, Ostfeld, Parthasarathy, Pilkauskas, Stange, Torres, and Weiss

News

Lantz launches online course about public policy fundamentals

Sep 25, 2023

A new open online course available on Michigan Online helps learners understand the fundamentals of public policy and how policy can confront societal challenges in social welfare, public health, the environment, education, criminal justice, and...

News

Alvin Christian awarded the 2023 Peter Eckstein Prize

May 17, 2023

Ford School PhD candidate Alvin Christian is the 2023 winner of the Peter Eckstein Prize for Interdisciplinary Research, an award that celebrates the value of interdisciplinary research in public policy. His research paper, “Restraining Orders,...

Alvin Christian smiling in an office space with tables and orange chairs in the background

State & Hill

Forensic anthropology in Guatemala

May 3, 2023

In spring 2019, Aprisal Malale (MPP '20) found himself at the side of an unmarked grave in...

Picture of Gerardo A. Méndez Gutiérrez (MPP '24)

Publication

Jacob finds little benefit, large costs to pretrial juvenile detention

Apr 11, 2023

Despite the large number of youth detained in juvenile detention centers before a trial, little research has been conducted on the impact of this detainment on life outcomes. Publishing a new research brief for the Cato Institute, Brian Jacob,...

Photo of Brian Jacob standing at the Annenberg Auditorium podium, delivering remarks at a public event

News

Surveillance technology can have unintended consequences, Kleinman tells The New York Times

Apr 2, 2023

Nationwide, police departments are integrating facial recognition technology into their investigative processes. The technology has been criticized as "exacerbating racist policies," because of false identification, especially among African American...

News

Judge Beatty Blunt joins the Ford School as Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence

Aug 24, 2022

Distinguished litigator, legal expert, and public servant Judge Laurel Beatty Blunt (Ohio Tenth District Court of Appeals) will join the Ford School faculty for fall 2022 as a Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence....

Publication

Investment in public schools reduces contact with criminal justice system - EPI working paper

May 10, 2022

Increased investment in public schools pays off through reductions in adult crime, a new Education Policy Initiative brief shows. The working paper, “Public School Funding, School Quality, and Adult Crime,” authored by E. Jason Baron, Joshua Hyman,...

In the Media

Parthasarathy considers dangers of Beverly Hills's surveillance system

Apr 25, 2022 Los Angeles Times

There is one camera for every 17 people in Beverly Hills, one of the most surveilled cities in the world. Shobita Parthasarathy, professor of public policy and director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, discussed the dangers of...

Professor Shobita Parthasarathy leads a discussion in the Betty Ford Classroom

In the Media

Lin discusses chilling effect of Trump-era "China Initiative"

Mar 23, 2022 NPR

A professor who was arrested under the Trump administration's China Initiative began his trial this week. Ann Chih Lin, associate professor of public policy and director of the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies, explained how the...

Photo of Ann Chih Lin in Weill Hall's 2nd floor hallway

In the Media

Ali comments on Gov. Whitmer kidnapping trial

Mar 1, 2022 WXMI Fox 17

The trial for the men who planned to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer is beginning soon. Javed Ali, associate professor of practice, provided some insight into the trial and potential witnesses. “Hard to know what a judge is thinking, but it...

In the Media

Ali provides insight into first insurrection trial

Feb 27, 2022 The Wall Street Journal

The first trial of a January 6 insurrection rioter will be a test for the government. "If the government wins, and they are able to prove the validity of all of the charges, that could likely send a lot of defendants racing for plea deals,"...

In the Media

Ali provides insight on insurrection criminal cases

Jan 13, 2022 ABC News

A leader of the Oath Keepers militia group has been arrested in connection with the January 6 insurrection. Javed Ali, associate professor of practice, commented on the charges. "The charges against Stewart Rhodes send a strong message about the...

News

Ali reflects on Jan. 6 insurrection and its implications

Jan 6, 2022

As the anniversary of the January 6 insurrection approached, the investigations into the causes and participants, as well as any changes in security or policy, came into focus. Since the insurrection, over 700 people have been charged in connection...

News

Meet our new faculty: Ben Green

Aug 10, 2020

Ben Green was selected as one of six University of Michigan Society of Fellows for a three-year appointment. He will be an assistant professor at the Ford School working on a book project and teaching students. His research focuses on the social and...

Parthasarathy talks algorithms place in the criminal justice system

Sep 3, 2019

Algorithms are making their way into public systems. They serve to make data-based, automated decisions when applied to public system models, but those computerized decisions don’t come without bias or ethical implications. In the podcast series...

Bias in bail: Parthasarathy cautions against new Public Safety Assessment tools

Apr 19, 2019

Tackling criminal justice reform requires a multi-pronged approach, and one of the most recent avenues gaining traction is an attempt to rework how pretrial decisions are made. The Michigan Supreme Court has its hands in this effort, launching a new...

MPP alum named Health Policy Research Scholar

Oct 15, 2018

Demar Lewis (MPP ’16), a member of the Ford School’s Alumni Board, was named a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholar (HPRS). This prestigious program supports second-year doctoral students across disciplines who have an...

Thacher examines potential of focused deterrence model for policing and criminal justice reform

Dec 30, 2016

In December 2016, David Thacher's "Channeling Police Discretion: The Hidden Potential of Focused Deterrence" was published in the 2016 volume of University of Chicago Legal Forum. Abstract The breadth of the criminal law and the unfettered...

In The Detroit News, Al Young considers lessons on race for the next generation

Oct 1, 2015

In a recent op-ed for The Detroit News, Al Young grapples with racial consciousness, contrasting the products of his racially segmented upbringing in 1970s East Harlem with his sons’ more fluid worlds in Ann Arbor today.“I long for them to...

No matter what: working for criminal justice reform in New Orleans

Jul 31, 2013

Lelia Gowland (MPP '11) has New Orleans' back. Born and raised in the city, she left her hometown to attend college and always planned to return. Little surprise that she has spent the last few years doing social justice advocacy for youth in the...

Reimagining justice: A conversation on police brutality with Jessica Jaglois and Rochelle Riley

Jun 23, 2023, 6:30 pm EDT

State Theater

Join for an important discussion on the complicated issue of race and policing in the United States, featuring New York Times Contributor Jessica Jaglois, and Director of Arts and Culture for the City of Detroit, Rochelle Riley.

Reimagining Justice: A conversation on policy brutality

Niketa Brar (MPP '15) on racial equity impact assessment

Feb 2, 2023, 11:30 am-1:30 pm EST

Annenberg Auditorium

Join the Center for Racial Justice for a workshop on racial equity impact assessment with Niketa Brar (MPP '15), part of our Racial Justice in Practice workshop series. Open to U-M students, faculty, staff, and community partners.

Policy Talks @ the Ford School, Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Lecture Series

What policymakers need to know about the criminal justice system

Dec 8, 2022, 4:30-5:30 pm EST

Weill Hall, Betty Ford Auditorium (1110)

Join Judge Laurel Beatty Blunt and Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes for a conversation at the intersection of law, policy, and the criminal justice system.

Real-World Perspectives on Poverty Solutions

Pursuing justice in the prosecutor’s office: Racial and economic equity in a stratified community

Oct 14, 2022, 12:00-1:00 pm EDT

School of Social Work, ECC 1840

Elected Prosecuting Attorney for Washtenaw County Eli Savit and Chief Assistant Prosecutor for Washtenaw County Victoria Burton-Harris present as part of the Real World Perspectives on Poverty Solutions Speaker Series.

Dinner for democracy: Race and the criminal justice system

Oct 22, 2021, 5:00-6:20 pm EDT

This virtual event will be a question-and-answer style panel with Eli Savit, Washtenaw County Prosecuting Attorney; Victoria Burton-Harris, Washtenaw County Chief Assistant; Dr. Jeremiah Wade Olsen, professor at UM-Flint; and Alyshia Dyer (MPP/MSW’22), former Washtenaw County Deputy Sheriff.

Racial Foundations of Public Policy

Racial foundations of criminal justice policy

Sep 28, 2021, 4:00-5:30 pm EDT

Dr. Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve—author of "Crook County: Racism and Injustice in America's Largest Criminal Court"—will join Dr. Celeste-Watkins-Hayes in conversation as part of a virtual series on the historical roots and impact of race in shaping public policy.

Watch live from this page