“Rikers is every jail and every jail is Rikers,” said Glenn E. Martin, founder and president of JustLeadershipUSA. While Rikers Island Jail in New York City has been ranked one of the ten worst jails in the country, the violence, abuse, and corruption at Rikers is a microcosm of what’s happening across the country, as national coverage and local headlines regularly remind us.
Reporting on Mass Incarceration
There is, however, positive momentum for criminal justice reform. Many state, county and city elected officials and agencies are exploring innovations in sentencing, bail reform and jail diversion programs to reduce incarceration, the massive cost of jails and the high rates of recidivism while improving the process of justice and restoring the essential belief in fairness.
To stay abreast of reporting on mass incarceration in America, one excellent source is The Marshall Project, a nonpartisan nonprofit news organization that focuses on journalism about criminal justice in the United States. They produce a daily round up of criminal justice news from around the web called Opening Statement.
