Content Archives: Outside Voice

Today’s post is a departure from the topics I usually write about.  I’m sharing our family’s experience with childhood illness, diagnosis and treatment in the hope that other parents who […]

For decades, there seemed to be a chasm between liberals and conservatives on what constitutes “just” in criminal justice policy.

From about seventh grade, I knew I wanted to major in government or public policy in college and that’s what I did.  I loved it so much that I went […]

I set the dinner table for four last night.  As I returned to the table with condiments, I noticed that there were only three place settings. Hmm…out of the corner […]

If I could describe my summer in one word it would be “reflective.” My husband turned fifty in March.  My mom reached eighty-years in June. Our son graduated from high […]

It is important to have a fair, accurate, complete picture of community supervision violations, not just present selected facts to sell a sweeping reform agenda.

I was a public policy major in college back in the 1990’s and had the great fortune of having Oblates of St. Francis De Sales as teachers in many classes […]

In working with juvenile lifers (JLWOP) preparing for their resentencing, I am struck by how often these long-confined inmates state that “prison saved my life.” I’ve asked every man who […]

PA justice reform – let’s maximize existing options and allow parolees to earn their way off supervision.

Labeling offenders as “non-violent” or “violent” is misleading and can impede identifying meaningful justice reform options