Criminal legal reform expert Rebecca Brown has joined the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice as Policy Advisor.

“It’s no coincidence that the cities we most associate with violence also have long and documented histories of police abuse,” writes Quattrone Center Journalism Fellow Radley Balko.

Quattrone Center Executive Director John F. Hollway C’92, MAPP’18 explains how SERs can improve the criminal justice system.

The Quattrone Center and the City of San Francisco have released a report recommending policies and procedures to reduce domestic violence-related fatalities.

At Slate, Seema Saifee, Quattrone Center Research Fellow, explores how incarcerated individuals have contributed to the conversation on reducing incarceration and crime.

The Quattrone Center has released of the final set of recommendations from a Sentinel Event Review (SER) of incidents during protests following the murder of George Floyd.

Tom Dybdahl L’98 and Christina Swarns L’93 recently discussed prosecutorial misconduct, the Brady rule of evidence disclosure, and Dybdahl’s new book.

Dybdahl chronicles the evolution of the Brady rule from its unexpected birth to the legal challenges that left it defanged and ineffective.

This past semester, Quattrone Center Fellow Anjelica Hendricks engaged students in the study of how policing intersects with race, gender, ability, and other intertwined socio-economic identities.

“[A] focus on best practices to avoid undue coercion and false confessions would go a long way to improve the quality of justice in Pennsylvania,” writes the Quattrone Center’s Marissa Bluestine.

Former Washington Post journalist Radley Balko is joining the Quattrone Center as a Journalist Fellow.

The Quattrone Center has released “Videotaping Interrogations in Pennsylvania,” the first study to review Pennsylvania interrogation practices.

Quattrone Center Research Fellow Johanna Hellgren has co-authored a paper that examines how defense attorneys make plea recommendations.

David Rudovsky and Kathleen M. Brown advocate the continuation of the commutation process and reform legislation providing for life with parole.

Brinn Gammer C’24 worked as a summer research assistant with the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice.

The Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice has released recommendations based on a Sentinel Event Review of the Seattle PD’s response to protests in 2020.

Prof. Paul Heaton discussed the Quattrone Center’s study on bail reform in Harris County, Texas with the Texas Standard.

Five years since Harris County’s misdemeanor reforms went into effect, a Quattrone Center study finds significant benefits, including reduced likelihood of future contact with the criminal justice system.

A Quattrone Center study has found that misdemeanor bail reforms in Harris County, Texas have had a positive impact on public safety.

The Quattrone Center’s John Hollway shares his insights on the Court’s decision on sentencing reductions under the First Step Act.

Arlene Rivera Finkelstein, Assoc. Dean for Equity & Justice and Chief Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Officer, shares information about this year’s Juneteenth celebrations.

Law School faculty regularly coordinate Continuing Judicial Education programming to help Pennsylvania judges stay abreast of cutting-edge legal issues.

One of Quattrone Fellow Taeho Kim’s recent projects studied the effects of body cameras on law enforcement outcomes.

Hermes and Alejandra intend to bring what they learn at the Law School back to their home country.

“[T]he panel is showing that bridges between the community and the SPD can be rebuilt on a foundation of mutual respect and dignity,” said the Quattrone Center’s Executive Director John Hollway C’92, MAPP’18.

The recently published report “Hidden Hazards” analyzes the varied allegations and findings of prosecutorial misconduct in state and federal courts throughout Pennsylvania.

Hollway and Miller will discuss prosecutorial misconduct during one of the symposium’s panels.

The Quattrone Center’s “Hidden Hazards” is a review of Pennsylvania prosecutorial misconduct claims that reveals a lack of transparency and accountability throughout the criminal justice system.

“Hidden Hazards” is based on a review of state and federal claims of prosecutorial misconduct between 2000 and 2016.

A joint community stakeholder group generated 69 recommendations for tactical and environmental improvements to the Madison Police Department.

Hellgren’s research also delves into the Alford plea, which allows defendants to maintain their innocence while accepting a plea deal.

Downey’s article was developed during a federal habeas corpus course at the Law School and will appear in the Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law.

The Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School is accepting applications for research fellowships for the academic year 2022-2023. Designed for scholars interested in pursuing academic careers in areas related to the Quattrone Center’s work, fellows enjoy faculty access to the Law School’s services and full participation in all Quattrone Center events. This is a full-time commitment and fellows are expected to be in residence at the Law School for the duration of the fellowship. Fellows receive a full year of funding and are eligible for renewal for an additional year. Fellows are expected to produce at least one original academic work during each year of funding. In addition to conducting their individual research and writing projects, each fellow’s responsibilities will also include providing support for the Quattrone Center’s existing and new programs, including the development of reports and proposals.

Law School faculty share their insights into how 9/11 has impacted the law, particularly in their areas of expertise:

Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice Facilitates City of Seattle Office of Inspector General Sentinel Event Review of Seattle Police Department’s Response to Last Summer’s Protests

This article in The Atlantic discusses work by the Quattrone Center arguing that an NTSB-like entity could help to reduce police shootings.

The court’s significant ruling cited “The Downstream Consequences of Pretrial Detention,” co-authored by Paul Heaton, Sandy Mayson, and Megan Stevenson.

The Quattrone Center’s new website aims to help prosecutors as well as innocence organization lawyers navigate the issues involved in resolving wrongful convictions.

This article in The Crime Report  describes a Quattrone Center-sponsored event examining how COVID has affected prisoner health. The event was co-hosted with the Center on Media, Crime and Justice at John Jay College.

In the throes of a historic summer for racial and social justice, the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice instituted a new internship program, wherein students from across the University engaged in projects meant to improve outcomes in law enforcement and criminal justice institutions.

This story describes the process and findings of the Quattrone Center-led Tucson Sentinel Event Review Board (SERB) inquiry into the deaths in custody of Damien Alvarado and Carlos Adrian Ingram-Lopez.

This article in the Bucks County Courier Times describes research conducted by the Quattrone Center on specialized courts for addressing the needs of mentally ill individuals enmeshed in the criminal justice system

Associate Dean and Executive Director of the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice John Hollway has been named to the Prosecutor Wellbeing Task Force of the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA).

The Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at Penn Law is accepting applications for research fellowships for the academic year 2021-2022. Designed for scholars interested in pursuing academic careers in areas related to the Quattrone Center’s work, fellows enjoy faculty access to the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School’s services and full participation in all Quattrone Center events. This is a full-time commitment and fellows are expected to be in residence at the Law School for the duration of the fellowship. Fellows receive a full year of funding and are eligible for renewal for an additional year. Fellows are expected to produce at least one original academic work during each year of funding. In addition to conducting their individual research and writing projects, each fellow’s responsibilities will also include providing support for the Quattrone Center’s existing and new programs, including the development of reports and proposals.

On Wednesday, July 8, 2020, the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School held the second event in its summer series, A Path for Change: Policing in America. The series is part of a yearlong colloquium, Achieving Racial Justice, as one of many initiatives Penn Law will be implementing in the coming months “to work internally and externally against anti-Black violence and racism and to promote meaningful change toward a more just reality.”

On Wednesday June 24, 2020, the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School held the first event in its summer series, A Path for Change: Policing in America. The series is part of a yearlong colloquium, Achieving Racial Justice. 

The op-ed by Quattrone Center faculty affiliate David Rudovsky offers ways to increase police transparency and improve accountability.

Quattrone Center Fellow Bocar Abdoulaye Ba’s research aims to address why police complaints aren’t taken seriously

In the op-ed for the Washington Post, Quattrone Center Research Fellow Bocar Ba and Roman Rivera document problems with police handling of citizen complaints and propose solutions.

The course, co-taught by Professor John Hollway, is held bi-weekly and features small, student-led discussions about various contemporary issues in policing

This Philadelphia Inquirer op-ed by Quattrone Center Academic Director Paul Heaton argues that measures that threaten public defender independence harm the overall criminal justice system.

What’s coming on the legal front in 2020? Penn Law professors tell us what to expect.

Charles Ramsey named Distinguished Policy Fellow, will teach Policing in the 21st Century

In this Q&A, Quattrone Center faculty affiliate John MacDonald discusses his new book, grounded in years of research on the positive public safety effects of remediation like fixing up abandoned lots and houses.

In this article in the Washington Post, Quattrone Center Assistant Director Marissa Bluestine describes the center’s efforts to promote conviction integrity

Wednesday, April 1 - Friday, April 3, 2020

Bluestine joins the Quattrone Center after a decade leading the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, a non-profit dedicating to securing exoneration for individuals wrongfully convicted of crimes.

The Quattrone Center is pleased to bring together national thought-leaders in criminal justice reform to discuss “After the First Step Act: What’s Next in Criminal Justice Reform?”

This unique collaboration takes a systemwide approach to examining errors in criminal justice by investigating cases that have resulted in unintended outcomes, particularly wrongful convictions.

Arnold Ventures is generously funding two Quattrone Center projects: a study on indigent defense led by Penn Law Professor David Abrams, and a study led by Quattrone Center Academic Director and Penn Law Senior Fellow Paul Heaton on indigent clients’ case staffing and outcomes.

Penn Law’s Quattrone Center, along with the Baltimore’s City State’s Attorney’s Office, Police Department, the Maryland Office of the Public Defender in Baltimore City, and the University of Baltimore Innocence Project Clinic, have released a root cause analysis report on the case of Malcolm J. Bryant, who was convicted of murder in 1999 and exonerated in 2016 after DNA tests proved his innocence.

The summit discussed emerging issues for prosecutors and allowed attendees to share initiatives aimed at improving the effectiveness of the criminal justice system.

The study, “The Effects of Holistic Defense on Criminal Justice Outcomes,” to be published in the Harvard Law Review, examined over half a million cases in the Bronx over a 10-year period involving poor criminal defendants who received court-appointed lawyers.

The event, “Opportunity Zones and Inclusive Community Development,” was held in Penn Law’s Fitts Auditorium and was hosted jointly by Penn Law’s Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice, the Penn Institute for Urban Research, and Enterprise Community Partners, Inc.

Penn Law’s Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice is a national research and policy hub created to increase the fairness and accuracy of the criminal justice system by preventing errors.

The Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice now accepting proposals to fund original research projects that will generate new knowledge that can improve the U.S. criminal justice system. The program is open to all Penn faculty.

Kimberly Foxx, State’s Attorney for Cook County, Illinois and Ty Stiklorius C’97 WG’03, co-founder of #FREEAMERICA and music manager, appointed to the Center’s Advisory Board

In this op-ed, Quattrone Center researchers Amanda Woog and Paul Heaton describe how event reviews can be used to address the problem of police shootings

This article in the Austin American-Statesman highlights a root cause analysis (RCA) being performed by the Quattrone Center for the city. The RCA will examine the Austin Police Department’s DNA lab, which was closed in 2016 after experiencing widespread problems handling and analyzing DNA evidence from crime scenes.

This article for The Crime Report discusses recent research by Quattrone Center Executive Director John Hollway and Calvin Lee and Sean Smoot that demonstrating how root cause analysis (RCA) can be applied to the problem of officer-involved shootings

This article describes recent research by Quattrone Center faculty affiliate John MacDonald demonstrating that California’s Prop. 47, which downgraded several nonviolent felonies, reduced racial disparities in the state’s criminal justice system.

In this episode of the Good Law | Bad Law podcast, Quattrone Center faculty affiliate David Rudovsky discusses how common practices related to pretrial detention, sentencing, and arrest contribute to racial and socioeconomic disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system

In this video, Quattrone Center faculty affiliate David Rudovsky shares research about problems with the U.S. bail system with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and leaders of the NFL players’ movement calling for criminal justice reform.

This article in The Atlantic discusses John Hollway’s research for the Quattrone Center identifying best practices for conviction review units.

In this article in Regulation magazine, Quattrone Center faculty affiliate Jon Klick describes how economic theory demonstrates that compensating exonerees can reduce wrongful convictions

In this response to a DoJ request for public comment, Quattrone Center Executive Director John Hollway outlines principles that the federal government should adhere to in order to continue to advance forensic science following the non-renewal of the National Commission on Forensic Science (NCFS).

In this edition of NPR Pittsburgh’s Criminal Injustice podcast, Quattrone Center Executive Director John Hollway discusses the scientific basis for forensic testimony

As part of Penn Law’s Model Government Service & Public Affairs Initiative, Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice Executive Director John Hollway taught a Policy Research Seminar this spring semester titled “A Systems Approach to Conviction Integrity,” which took a cross-disciplinary look at why the criminal justice system sometimes gets it wrong and how the system can be improved in the future.

In response to a lawsuit filed by two civil rights groups, and in the wake of a recent study by researchers at Penn Law’s Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice analyzing the consequences of pretrial detention, a federal judge in Houston has ordered Harris County to begin releasing inmates arrested for misdemeanor offenses who cannot afford to pay bail.

This article in The Crime Report highlights best practices surrounding eyewitness identification procedures identified in a Quattrone Center Spring Symposium panel on improving eyewitness accuracy.

In this op-ed for The Crime Report, John Hollway discusses the recent decision by the Attorney General to shutter the National Commission on Forensic Science.

Singer-songwriter, film and TV producer, criminal justice reform advocate, and University of Pennsylvania alumnus John Legend C’99 has joined the Quattrone Center’s Advisory Board.

The Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Law School will expand upon its work producing innovative new research that improves American criminal justice policy with the support of up to $2.2 million over four years from the Charles Koch Foundation.

Steve James presents the story of the Sungs and their struggle to save their family-run Chinatown bank from a misguided prosecution based on cultural incompetence.

In this article, Quattrone Center Academic Director Paul Heaton argues that an independent agency patterned after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) could identify and mitigate systemic factors that result in unwanted violent encounters between police and citizens.

In this article, Quattrone Center Executive Director John Hollway describes how root cause analysis can be used to learn from cases involving police use of force.

This Philly.com news article discusses work to revamp and improve the Conviction Review Unit (CRU) of the Philadelphia District Attorney, reforms that were informed by work on CRU best practices authored by John Hollway, Quattrone Center Executive Director.

This article in the News Journal discusses recent research by Quattrone Center affiliate John MacDonald and Ellen Donnelly which analyzes Delware criminal justice records to identify points in the adjudication process in which Black/White disparities in incarceration emerge

This op-ed by Megan Stevenson, a Quattrone Center Fellow, discusses the implications of the Center’s recent work on bail for Philadelphia

The Law School and its centers and institutes added new faculty, fellows, and staff members this academic year.

This article in the Inquirer discusses recent Quattrone Center research on pretrial detention and its effects

This public media report discusses the Quattrone Center’s work on bail reform and its potential implications for Philadelphia

In this op-ed in the Houston Chronicle, Quattrone Center researchers discuss the implications of their recent research on misdemeanor bail for citizens and policymakers in Harris County, Texas

Two new studies from the Quattrone Center find that defendants subject to pretrial detention are more likely to be convicted and less likely to receive favorable plea terms than similarly situated defendants who make bail, and those who experienced pretrial detention committed more crimes after their release than similarly situated individuals who made bail.

Quattrone Center Academic Director Paul Heaton discussed his research with Sandra Mayson and Megan Stevenson analyzing Harris County’s bail system with the Houston Press.

The Atlantic sat down with Quattrone Fellow Megan Stevenson to discuss her recent research on the effects of pretrial detention on case outcomes

In this op-ed, Quattrone Center Executive Director John Hollway discusses ways to reduce prosecutor misconduct by enabling enable good prosecutors to more easily follow ethical and constitutional standards

Kathy Brown, a Practice Associate Professor of Nursing at Penn and affiliated faculty member of the Quattrone Center, has been leading successful efforts focused on improving the commutation process in Pennsylvania. Her work was recently profiled in the article in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Law School has released the first national review of Conviction Review Units, a growing trend in criminal justice reform.

Paul Heaton explains how insights from economics can inform everything from insurance law, drug law and policy, and criminal cases.

John Hollway, the Quattrone Center’s Executive Director, will be participating in a panel discussion: “Mass Incarceration: A Provocative Discussion of the Legal, Constitutional and Social Issues” at the PA Bar Association’s Law Policy Forum on March 31, 2016 in Pittsburgh.

Paul Heaton, the Academic Director of the Quattrone Center, joined a number of legal experts in issuing an open letter to the U.S. Department of Justice calling for an investigation of potential concerns related to prosecutorial suppression of evidence in Orange County, California.

News article describing the Philadelphia Event Review Team, a new Quattrone Center initiative funded by the National Institute for Justice that seeks to institutionalize the process of error review in order to identify ways to improve the Philadelphia criminal justice system

The Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice has been awarded $350,000 by the National Institute of Justice to fund the Philadelphia Event Review Team, which will unite the major criminal justice agencies in Philadelphia in the regular review of cases of error in Philadelphia’s criminal justice system.

Megan Stevenson, a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow with the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice, will be serving as chair of a panel that discusses “Programs and Policies to Help Vulnerable Children and Youth” at the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) annual meeting and a discussant at a special session on the economics of crime at the Southern Economic Association annual meeting. 

Stephanos Bibas, an affiliated faculty member of the Quattrone Center, published an op-ed in the National Review discussing ways to address America’s mass incarceration challenge.

The executive director of the Quattrone Center, John Hollway, will share observations from a research survey conducted on conviction review units nationwide at a groundbreaking symposium offered by the Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP) at Santa Clara University School of Law.

The Quattrone Center’s Dr. Erin Kerrison (also a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Criminology) will present research findings at the Mid-Atlantic Law and Society Association’s third annual conference, hosted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice on October 10, 2015. 

Award-winning economist Paul Heaton of the RAND Corporation has been appointed as the Academic Director of the University of Pennsylvania Law School’s Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice.

Thoughtful review of the use of root cause analysis in The New Yorker featuring two Quattrone Center “just culture” event reviews.

The Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice and Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office have been jointly selected by the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys to receive the 2015 Innovations in Criminal Justice Award.

The Quattrone Center has brought together Penn faculty from throughout the University, including Law, Criminology, Medicine, Wharton, Social Policy & Practice, Nursing, Engineering and more in the pioneering application of a “systems approach” used successfully to reduce errors in healthcare and aviation.

America’s system of criminal justice is supposed to be equal, exact, and colorblind, but it is not without its flaws. Created by human beings, it is at the mercy of human error, usually made in good faith, although occasionally with ill intent.

Media coverage about the partnership between the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office and the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman was joined today by the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at Penn Law conducted a root cause analysis of a dismissed case.

The Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice, a research center at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, has published the report, “A Systems Approach to Errors in Criminal Justice,” which explores ways in which a systems approach to criminal justice may be employed as an alternative to a case-by case litigation model of reform.

The Quattrone Center for Fair Administration and Justice’s Spring Symposium took place April 14-15, featuring a variety of panels and speakers exploring a “systems approach” to conviction integrity.

The Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice is a national research and policy hub created to catalyze long term structural improvements to the US criminal justice system.

John F. Hollway C’92, an attorney and the founder of a consulting firm specializing in criminal justice reform research projects, has been named the first Executive Director of the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice.

The University of Pennsylvania Law School has received a $15 million gift to establish the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice, a national research and policy hub created to catalyze long-term structural improvements to the US criminal justice system.