For the Media

Open | NYC Youth Gun Culture

BronxNet

Center researchers Rachel Swaner and Basaime Spate meet with Brittany Aubain of BronxNet to discuss our recent study on why young people in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, carry guns. They talk through what they gleaned from in-depth conversations with more than 100 young gun-carriers—from widespread fear of dying to economic insecurity and distrust of police—and why our policies and programs need to take these young people’s perspectives to heart in order to succeed.

Once-Resistant Rural Court Officials Begin to Embrace Medications to Treat Addiction

KFF

In this article, our Director of Treatment Court Programs Monica Christofferson comments on the increasing acceptance of medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in the drug court system. The story follows Tennessee Judge O. Duane Slone, his pilot programs with MOUD, and the successful recoveries of participants like Rachel Solomon. In short, as Christofferson put it: “MOUD works.”

Why Some Young People Carry Guns

The Brian Lehrer Show, WNYC

The researchers behind our report on young gun-carriers in Brooklyn, New York—Basaime Spate, Elise White, and Javonte Alexander—walk through their study on Brian Lehrer’s radio show for WNYC. They touch on the themes of vulnerability and trust, central to understanding the reasons young people carry as well as their relationships with police. “This research here really opened the door…to be able to have those conversations, those vulnerable conversations that they wouldn't normally have when they are out on the block because of the hypervigilance that they are always in,” said Spate.

Connecticut prosecutors strive for efficiency, equity through ‘Moving Justice Forward’ initiative

Connecticut Public Radio

Connecticut Public Radio gives a brief outline of the Moving Justice Forward project, which we helped develop in partnership with Connecticut's Division of Criminal Justice. Alternatives to incarceration, robust training for prosecutors, and concerns about wrongful convictions were among the topics discussed at a July press conference on the initiative—highlighting the urgency of efforts to create a fairer, more effective legal system for all.

Connecticut prosecutors adopt plan to ‘move justice forward’ with efficiency and fairness

FOX 61

Expanding diversion options prior to prosecution is vital to keeping youth and other people out of the legal system and in community-based services. FOX 61 discusses these options with Louis Mattei Jr., one of the community voices behind Moving Justice Forward—our project with the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice to identify areas of improvement within the state’s justice system. This segment gives a preview of the ten-point action plan for reform we helped to create, and features statements from prosecutors and other stakeholders who worked on the project.

CT prosecutors unveil plan to increase fairness across state criminal justice system

Hartford Courant

The Hartford Courant details the months-long process and mission behind Moving Justice Forward, a collaboration between the Center for Justice Innovation and the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice to improve fairness and efficiency in Connecticut’s justice system. “Transformation comes with reflection and urgency,” said Theron Pride, Managing Director of National Initiatives and Research at the Center. The article touches the goals of the report and draws a connection to other recent efforts to promote a fair and effective legal system in Connecticut.

Connecticut commits to ‘moving justice forward’ with new plan

WSHU

NPR’s WSHU Public Radio gives an overview of Connecticut’s Moving Justice Forward project, a blueprint for meaningful reform we helped create in partnership with the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice. Chief State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin and Deputy Chief John Russotto speak about the importance of the work and the many people—judges, prosecutors, and justice-involved people—whose input helped to shape it.

Slate’s “Political Gabfest” Mentions “Two Battlefields”

Slate

On Slate’s Political Gabfest podcast, Emily Bazelon discusses our recent report on why young people in Brooklyn, New York, carry guns. In the show’s “cocktail chatter” segment, Bazelon touches on the four types of gun-carriers identified in the study, the pervasive sense of fear that drives some young people towards guns, and other insights from the report.

Report shows most gun-carrying young adults in Crown Heights do so for protection of self and family

News12 Brooklyn

Researchers Basaime Spate, Elise White, and Javonte Alexander join News12 Brooklyn to discuss our groundbreaking report on why some young New Yorkers are carrying guns. Led by researchers with first-hand experience in the street networks of young gun-carriers, the study identified fear as the overwhelming factor behind the decision to carry. As Basaime Spate puts it, this was the first study of its kind to “have a shooter and a gang member talking about why they are part of a gang, why they are picking up a gun.”

Addressing some Baltimore teens’ belief they ‘need’ a gun is at the heart of efforts to reduce youth violence

The Baltimore Sun

As gun violence surges among young people in Baltimore, advocates and policymakers are looking for ways to address the underlying reasons that some young people turn to guns. The Baltimore Sun explores new, grassroots approaches to combating youth gun violence in the city and draws insight from our study of why 100 young people in Brooklyn, New York choose to carry.

Center For Justice Innovation report explores fear-driven gun culture among NYC youth

Brooklyn Eagle

The first in a series of studies into the roots of gun-carrying in four major cities, our recent report identifies fear as the main reason young people in Brooklyn, New York say they carry a gun. Only by specifically addressing this population’s needs—and building trust with respected community members—can gun violence prevention programs hope to achieve their goals.

Safety fears prompt more Brooklyn youths to carry guns, report finds

New York Daily News

Amid a spike in violence among youth, a team of researchers from the Center spoke to 100 young people living in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, about why they carry guns. Their answers singled out fear—for their own lives and the lives of their loved ones—as the main factor driving their gun-carrying. The New York Daily News quotes one 19-year-old boy who spoke with our researchers in the landmark study: “My biggest fear is somebody coming for me and they can’t get to me, they try to get to my family.”

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