Criminal Justice Reform

American Society for Criminologists awards highlight special bond

Damian Cristodero — Mon, 13 Nov 2023 21:35:35 +0000

American Society for Criminologists awards highlight special bond Damian Cristodero Mon, 11/13/2023 - 16:35

Faye Taxman, a health services criminologist and Distinguished University Professor in ��ӽ紫ý’s Schar School of Policy and Government, has mentored C.J. Appleton, a PhD student in Criminology, Law, and Society, since 2019.

They have worked together at Mason’s Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence (ACE), of which Taxman is the director, building a professional relationship that accelerated Appleton’s evolution as a scholar and provided the center with what Taxman calls “a role model for the field.”

So it is with great pleasure for both that they will be honored at this week’s American Society for Criminologists (ASC) annual meeting in Philadelphia.

Faye Taxman. Photo by Office of University Branding

Taxman, part will receive the August Vollmer Award, given to someone whose scholarship and professional activities have made outstanding contributions to justice and/or the treatment or prevention of criminal or delinquent behavior.

Appleton will receive the Ruth D. Peterson Fellowship for Racial and Ethnic Diversity, which encourages students of color, especially from racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in the field, to enter the fields of criminology and criminal justice.

“For me, to be on this journey with her and to have learned from her and to see how talented and incredible she is, it’s an honor and pretty special that we both can receive something at the same time,” Appleton said.

“It’s awesome,” Taxman said. “It makes me very happy.”

Their story began in 2018, when Appleton basically cold-called Taxman in an email to ask about Mason’s PhD programs. Appleton had turned his life around after several years in correctional institutions for an assortment of drug possession and probation violations, and earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology/anthropology at Lewis & Clark College, and a master’s degree in sociology from Portland State University.

They met later at an ASC meeting and quickly learned their visions aligned. In fact, Appleton said, “[Taxman] is the reason I chose Mason.”

C.J. Appleton

“What I see in C.J. is a person who has endured a lot of struggles in his life and benefited from good, quality rehabilitative treatment services and wants to give back to the next generation,” Taxman said. “He embraces the notion that any of us can serve our community. His way is by mentoring and helping people understand that when people in society don’t do well, there are ways to help them so they can pursue a more productive life and be a productive citizen.”

Appleton said Taxman immediately made him feel part of the ACE team instead of what he called “a worker bee doing tasks for other people.”

“I have been put in charge of various aspects and components for the last five years and because of that I have a lot of confidence, not just in my skills but in my ability to figure it out,” Appleton said. “That’s one of the biggest things I’ve gotten in my experience at Mason, just confidence that comes through being put in the fire and being supported.”

Appleton said he is most proud of his research with a team that created a free resource available on ACE’s website that explains best practices and guidelines in administering probation conditions. That led to ongoing work with the state of Massachusetts to revamp its condition-setting practices.

Taxman, as Schar School dean Mark J. Rozell said, “is a powerhouse whose work on criminal justice reform reaches well beyond the academe to inform public discourse and policymaking.”

“I’ve been able to develop models about how to implement improvements in how the criminal legal system can actually help people change and reduce their criminal behavior,” Taxman said. “So this award means that I am recognized, but that my work is recognized in terms of highlighting to the next generation of researchers the different ways people can pursue having an impact on public policy and engage public institutions in change.”

A lesson that helped lead Appleton to success.

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Former AG Eric Holder honored by the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy with its 2022 Distinguished Achievement Award

John Hollis — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 14:41:41 +0000

Former AG Eric Holder honored by the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy with its 2022 Distinguished Achievement Award John Hollis Wed, 06/29/2022 - 10:41

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. speaks at the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy's annual symposium in Arlington. Photo by Max Taylor Photography

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said this week it is possible to have a reformed and more equitable criminal justice system that will help keep all Americans safe.

Holder, who served under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2015, spoke at ��ӽ紫ý’s Mason Square in Arlington, where he was the keynote speaker during Monday’s awards luncheon at the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy’s annual symposium. The nation’s 82nd attorney general and first African American to hold the position received the 2022 Distinguished Achievement Award in Evidence-Based Crime Policy.

The award recognizes outstanding achievements and contributions by individuals in academia, practice or the policy arena who are committed to a leadership role in advancing the use of scientific research evidence in decisions about crime and justice policies. The role also includes notable efforts in connecting researchers with criminal justice institutions or advancing scientific research more generally in crime and justice.

“Criminal justice has been the centerpiece of my life’s work,” Holder told the several hundred law enforcement personnel, legal practitioners and scholars in attendance. “There’s not a tension between such reform and public safety. Reform and a more fair criminal justice system will enhance the likelihood the American people will, in fact, be more safe.”

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. speaks to an attentive crowd at the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy's annual symposium. Photo by Max Taylor Photography

Holder noted that by end of the Obama administration, there was a decrease in both America’s overall prison population and crime rate. It was the first such decrease in four decades, he said.

“Reform and safety can be true partners,” he said.

Holder was lauded for having been a true champion for science during his tenure at the Department of Justice (DOJ), having brought in top scientists to lead both the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, creating the department’s first Science Advisory Board and infusing evidence-based approaches in the DOJ’s state and local criminal justice grant programs.

Cynthia Lum, a professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society within Mason’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the director of the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy, said she was honored to be able to present Holder with CEBCP’s highest honor.

“As attorney general, his efforts to translate, disseminate, and institutionalize science in the Department of Justice’s criminal justice programs transformed the field of criminology and helped accelerate evidence-based crime policy and practice,” Lum said.

Former two-time U.S. Assistant Attorney General and Mason Professor Emerita Laurie O. Robinson lauded her dear personal friend and former boss during her introduction for being “a committed advocate for science.”

Holder credited the evidence-based approach to the criminal justice system for making it fairer, and asked that it be better supported.

“This is not about compromising public safety,” he said. “It’s about a new approach that will keep us secure, will reduce costs and will promote fairness. All of this is possible.”

The daylong symposium also included various panels and the induction of nine new members to the Evidence-Based Policing Hall of Fame.

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Reforming Criminal Justice

Andrew J Schappert — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 14:31:53 +0000

Reforming Criminal Justice Andrew J Schappert Fri, 12/03/2021 - 09:31

Screenshot by Buzz McClain/Schar School of Policy and Government

Nearly 100 viewers with an interest in criminal justice reform in the commonwealth tuned into an early December webinar on the subject, moderated by Bonnie Stabile of the Schar School’s Gender and Policy Center (GAP), and featuring Faye Taxman, director of the Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence (ACE!). Guests addressing the equity, effectiveness, and economics of incarceration included keynote speaker Jennifer Carroll Foy, former Virginia delegate and gubernatorial candidate; Bonnie Hoffman, director of public defense reform and training at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; Claire Guthrie Gastañga, former director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia; and Edward Ungvarsky, criminal defense lawyer.
—Buzz McClain

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American Society for Criminologists awards highlight special bond

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