Part 3- The Center for Ju$tice Re$earch stands for...?

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Look like yet another powerful whack at the Center for Justice Research by the Houston Chronicle- Not only that, but it seems that about 31 academics have signed a report stating that the Center's Director- Dr. Howard Henderson- research is pure baloney as well as proposing outdated and anachronistic policy proposals to increase mass incarceration.

We can only imagine how embarrassing and humiliating this must be for him as well as the Faculty Fellows.  Moreover what does the Koch Foundation think about all this “research”?  We guess the Koch’s must be very, very unhappy. We certainly would!  The weblinks are set below-

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Report-Harris-DA-s-office-overburdened-14302364.php

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Academics-raise-concerns-about-report-finding-14539787.php

https://www.prosecutorreport.com/

https://www.prosecutorreport.com/note

Comments

Anonymous said…
This is an interesting post. I’ve been following it for some time, but this post seems to be an all-time low for several reasons.

First, why wasn’t there a copy of the report provided for us to read for ourselves? Then we would be able to see for ourselves that these researchers at the Center for Justice Research laid out three empirically supported recommendations, none of which were archaic and outdated. In fact, their main support comes from a Northwestern Law Review Journal article that was published by University of Houston Law School professors, their research was also supported by articles in Justice Quarterly. Justice System Journal, the American Prosecutor Research Institute, Department of Justice and a R-Street Policy Study. This makes me wonder why we question research coming from an HBCU when we don’t question that same research when it comes from Predominantly White Institutions/organizations.

https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1184&context=nulr

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07418825.2018.1548637

https://www.jstor.org/stable/20877581?seq=1

http://biblioteca.cejamericas.org/handle/2015/2111

https://www.rstreet.org/2019/04/03/how-data-can-improve-prosecution-reduce-jail-populations-and-advance-justice/


Here is a copy of that report so that people can read it for themselves and they will clearly see this report’s three recommendations: https://centerforjusticeresearch.org/prosecutor_caseload/

Determine caseload needs locally, county by county

Prosecutor needs must be contextualized by the needs of the public defender’s office

Use more pre-charge diversions before establishing prosecutor staffing needs

Second, these folks also put out a rejoinder for their report, but you also did not provide us a copy to review. I found a copy here: https://centerforjusticeresearch.org/prosecutor_rejoinder/

3. What I find most interesting is that the claims made against this research center’s report are nowhere in their report and none of the disagreeing academics do research in this area. Should I be wrong on this, provide us a copy of this research if you have it. Interestingly, the overwhelming majority of those signers are lawyers and there were a few graduate students. It seems that they were provided a narrative, such as the one you have put out, as opposed to reading the report themselves.

This report has received considerable positive media attention. Here are just a few:

https://www.law360.com/articles/1189577/why-prosecutorial-overload-can-spark-more-problems

https://defendernetwork.com/e-editions/september-05-2019-harris-county-prosecutor-shortage-what-it-means-for-the-black-community/

I’ve also taken the liberty to look at some of the research center fellow’s resumes and they’ve published in some of the best journals, so your claim about their research is not supported.

Final note: If this is supposed to be “Transparency State”, then why is everyone’s name listed, who you are attacking, but you have failed to provide your name and affiliation. Stand by your assertions and let everyone know who you are. You can’t expect transparency to be legitimate when you aren’t.

In the marketplace of ideas, we should enjoy the ability to disagree, but when doing so, please provide all the information and not simply that of one side.

As they say, “Great minds discuss ideas; Average Minds Discuss Events; Small Minds Discuss People.”
December 3, 2019 at 5:01 AM
Anonymous said…
You sound like you work for the Center.
May 17, 2020 at 3:07 PM
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