The Criminal Justice Reform Lab studies the relationship between ideas and legal change for the purpose of identifying new pathways of, and possibilities for, criminal justice reform. Through ongoing research, incubation, and experimentation, the Reform Lab aims to support a more fair and effective criminal justice system—one scholarly idea at a time.
Projects
Guilty Minds Project
Explores the relationship between mens rea policy and state and federal criminal justice reform efforts through a mix of multidisciplinary research and unique scholarly events. The project includes: (1) an innovative virtual conference involving 30 of the nation’s leading criminal law scholars and practitioners; (2) the generation of original scholarship on mens rea policy and reform; and (3) the creation of novel multimedia and educational content.
Criminal Justice Decisions Project
Explores the relationship between scholarly ideas and criminal justice decision-making through a mix of multidisciplinary research and communications strategies. The project includes: (1) a grant-funded initiative to generate actionable, evidence-based research on criminal justice reform in Arizona with the involvement of 14 of the nation’s leading criminal law scholars and criminologists; (2) the development of novel mediums of communication to disseminate that research; and (3) partnering with state and local criminal justice reform organizations.
Legislating Criminal Justice Reform
Examines the role that ideology, justification, and expertise play in criminal justice decision-making through a mix of empirical and qualitative methodologies. The study includes a multi-decade systematic content analysis of legislative committee hearings on issues of criminal law reform within a single jurisdiction.
Mens Rea Reform in Practice
Examines the impact that mens rea reform has on criminal justice administration—including charging, convictions, and sentencing—through a mix of empirical and qualitative methodologies. The study includes a nationwide assessment of the consequences stemming from a judicially-driven change in mens rea policy at the federal level.
Current and Prior Collaborations
