Our Mission:
Reform
The Galsworthy Program is pursuing solutions and analysis on mass incarceration that seek to broaden and deepen the solutions currently offered to address these issues.
Our Mission
Drawing from the fields of law, criminal justice theory, philosophy, public policy, economics, political philosophy, and religious and cultural studies, the Galsworthy Program pursues solutions and analysis on mass incarceration that seek to broaden and deepen the opportunities for reform currently offered.
Our Initiatives
The Galsworthy CJR Program seeks to advance the conversation on Overcriminalization through panels, academic scholarship, our Galsworthy Fellowship Program, and seminars. Click the button below to see past panels and discussions from the Galsworthy Program on Mass Incarceration.
Panels
The Galsworthy CJR Program hosts public panels in New York City on Mass Incarceration, Violence, and Overcriminalization. Featuring top academics, these panels seek to open up the discussion of meaningful criminal justice reform to the public. See below for the 2016 and 2017 panels.
Academic scholarship
Our fellows receive a research stipend and a teaching fellowship grant to create both academic and popular content.
seminars
Hosted by The King's College, our fellows take part in two seasonal seminars, featuring leading experts in the field. These seminars further the Fellows' research and deepen the collective work of the Fellowship Program as we seek to pinpoint specific areas where actionable reform is achievable.
galsworthy fellowship program
Galsworthy Fellows come from a diverse range of fields, backgrounds, and universities to seek meaningful change. Through this two-year program, the Fellows will do individual research on aspects of Mass Incarceration, including teaching classes at their home university. Click the heading to see who our fellows are.
Surprising Trends
There is a general narrative surrounding mass incarceration that reform needs to be centered around felons who are either low-level, non-violent, or drug offenders. While reform is necessary in these areas, focusing solely on these areas can focus the reform conversation too heavily on areas that generally only comprise 16% of the state prison population, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Below are three surprising trends which reflect more holistic elements of reform that should be discussed more frequently.
87%
Of prisoners are held in state or county systems
Overcriminalization is more of a local and state issue rather than simply a federal issue.
462,000
people held pretrial nationally
This has been a 457% increase since 1970. Mass incarceration starts with the arrest, not the sentencing.
84%
of jails hold inmates outside their jurisdiction
Countless jurisdictions arrest more people than they have jail beds to hold. Instead of aiming for reform, they simply rent beds from nearby jails or prisons.
Follow The Galsworthy Program on Twitter:
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You'll be surprised who's capable of transformation if you put in the time & effort to show them someone wants them… https://t.co/XD7GhsARWn -
Potentially missed in the Thanksgiving rush was @KenBurns's latest documentary, one focusing on prison education. H… https://t.co/CmMosYP8FK
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The ability to read and challenge your mind gives inmates something constructive to do. It gives them hope of a wor… https://t.co/Ak42wp6UfT
“Justice is a machine that, when someone has once given it the starting push, rolls on of itself.”
Local Reforms
Criminal Justice Reform is not primarily a federal problem; in fact, the majority of change must occur at the state and county level. Below are states which are making substantial changes to reduce overcriminalization and whose efforts could be modeled nationwide.
To see what conversations are happening across the country, click the button below to see the Brookings Institute's coverage of local reforms, the Prison Policy Initiative's profile of each state's incarceration trends, and Right on Crime's map of state by state reform initiatives.
California
No state has faced greater need for immediate reform than California. Both public and private sector reform in the last five years has led California away from the brink of a total state prison system collapse towards a model of incremental improvement.
florida
Over the last 40 years, Florida's prison population has out grown its residential population by about 9%. Within the last seven years, the Right on Crime Initiative has gained momentum to reverse these trends. Local momentum is now needed to turn this initiative into policy reform.
texas
Texas has strongly utilized alternative correctional options to prison, especially for juvenile offenders. This has come in tandem with addressing prison overcrowding with incarceration reform instead of simply adding more beds to prisons.