Paul Heaton

Prof. Paul Heaton Discusses AI-based Tool That Gauges Dependability of Eyewitness Statements

Paul Heaton

How AI Tools Can Help Assess Verbal Eyewitness Statements

Quattrone Center Academic Director Paul Heaton’s new paper explores how he and his co-authors trained a large language model (LLM) to parse eyewitness confidence statements.

Marissa Bluestine

Quattrone Center’s Marissa Bluestine Explains the ‘Incredibly Hard Burden’ to Prove Perjury

Silverman Hall, Great Hall Architecture

Quattrone Center Study Shows Presumptive Field Drug Tests Lead to Wrongful Arrests and Convictions

Penn Carey Law - shield embossed on glass on wood

Quattrone Center Study Finds ‘False Positive’ Field Drug Tests Lead to Wrongful Convictions

Penn Carey Law Details

Quattrone Center Study: Nearly 1,000 Georgians Wrongly Busted Based on False Positive Drug Field Tests

Penn Carey Law - shield embossed on glass on wood

Quattrone Center Study: Field Drug Tests Generate Nearly 30,000 Bogus Arrests a Year

Penn Carey Law Details

Quattrone Center Study Estimates that Roadside Drug Tests Result in 30,000 Wrongful Arrests Every Year

Penn Carey Law sign - Golkin entrance

California State Senator Scott Weiner Cites Quattrone Center Study in Introduction of Bill to Curb Use of Roadside Drug Tests

police car with flashing lights at night

‘False Positive’ Field Drug Tests Lead to Wrongful Convictions

A pathbreaking Quattrone Center report shows that the use of presumptive field tests in drug arrests is one of largest known contributing factors to wrongful arrests and convictions.

Marissa Bluestine, Quattrone Center

Quattrone Center’s Marissa Bluestine Offers Insight on Improving Conviction Integrity Units

Marissa Bluestine, Quattrone Center

Quattrone Center’s Marissa Bluestine: Conviction Integrity Units Should Be Proactive in Preventing Errors

Marissa Bluestine, Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice

Quattrone Center’s Marissa Bluestine Contributed Expertise on Prosecutorial Misconduct to NPR Investigation in Ohio

Sandy Mayson, Professor of Law

Philadelphia Police ‘Failure to Appear’ Stalls Justice

At The Philadelphia Inquirer, Prof. Sandy Mayson writes that court absenteeism by police officers, witnesses, and private attorneys has serious consequences.

Quattrone Center’s Marissa Bluestine Explains the History and Role of Conviction Integrity Units

headshot of Rebecca Brown

Quattrone Center Hires National Policy Advisor

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

Quattrone Center’s Marissa Bluestine: Conviction Integrity Unit Leaders Must Have an Open Mind

Prof. Paul Heaton Explores the Connection Between the Bail System and Wrongful Convictions

Marissa Boyers Bluestine

The Quattrone Center’s Marissa Bluestine Explores the Particular Plight of Wrongfully Convicted Women

The Quattrone Center’s Marissa Bluestine Explores Why People Confess to Crimes They Didn’t Commit

‘Half the Police Force Quit. Crime Dropped’

“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.

2022 Quattrone Center Report That Proposed National Guidelines for Post-Conviction Reviews Cited

The Case for Sentinel Event Reviews

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

Quattrone Center Research Fellow Anjelica Hendricks Discusses Whether Plea Bargains Are Just

Paul Heaton

Prof. Paul Heaton on Advisory Board to Select New Montgomery County Public Defender

Crime scene

Driving Systemic Change to Prevent Domestic Violence Fatalities

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

Quattrone Center’s John Hollway and Marissa Bluestine Provide Framework for Discussion of Connecticut’s Conviction Integrity Unit

Op-Ed Cites Quattrone Center Research on Misdemeanor Pretrial Detention

Quattrone Center’s Marissa Bluestine Observes the Increased Scrutiny of the Admission of Scientific Evidence

Quattrone Center’s Seminal Study on Harris County Bail Reform Cited

Paul Heaton

Prof. Paul Heaton’s Testimony on Cash Bail’s Effects on Crime Cited

Quattrone Center Executive Director John Hollway Explains Challenges in Starting Evidence Retesting Program in D.C.

Ending Mass Incarceration

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

Leading the Process for Systemic Policing Change

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.

When Innocence Is Not Enough

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

Paul Heaton

Prof. Paul Heaton Explores the Reasons Behind the Over-Incarceration of Black Residents in Philadelphia

Quattrone Center’s Marissa Bluestine Offers Overview of How Conviction Review Units Operate

Quattrone Center’s Marissa Bluestine Explains Why Overturning Convictions Is So Challenging

When Innocence Is Not Enough: Hidden Evidence and the Failed Promise of the Brady Rule by Thomas L. Dybdahl L’98

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

Quattrone Center’s Marissa Bluestine Explains Homicide Detective Interrogation Methods

Quattrone Center’s John Hollway’s SER Scholarship Cited in Article Highlighting Takeaways from ‘Predator in Blue’ Investigation into Philip Nordo

Quattrone Center Assistant Director Marissa Bluestine Discusses the Concept of Consent Inside Police Interrogation Rooms

Quattrone Center Assistant Director Marissa Bluestine Notes that the ‘Criminal Legal System Itself’ Fails to Prevent Errors

Policing Marginalized Communities

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.

Mandating Taped Interrogations

“[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.

Journalism for Justice

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

Videotaping Interrogations in Pennsylvania

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

Disentangling the Influences of Defense Attorney Plea Recommendations

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

Life Sentence Commutations

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

The Quattrone Center’s Marissa Bluestine Explains Why Correcting Certain Mistakes in the Judicial System Can Be Challenging

Hands-On Criminal Justice Research

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

Quattrone Center’s Marissa Bluestine Cautions that Exonerations Should Not Be the Only Measure of Conviction Review Unit Success

Quattrone Center

Improving Police Response to Protests

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.

Quattrone Center Report Identifies Critical Errors by the City of Seattle and Seattle Police Department During Summer 2020 Protests

Paul Heaton

Prof. Paul Heaton Appointed to the Montgomery County Office of the Public Defender Advisory Board

Quattrone Center

Quattrone Center Report Combats Bail Reform Misinformation in Houston

Paul Heaton

Quattrone Center Study Authored by Prof. Paul Heaton Cited as Bail Reform Picks Up Nationwide

Paul Heaton

Prof. Paul Heaton Expresses Concern That Some Conflate Misdemeanor and Felony Bail Reform

Quattrone Center’s Sentinel Event Review of Wrongful Conviction of Malcolm J. Bryant Serves as Model

Reforming the Bail System

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

Quattrone Center Study Shows that Bail Reform ‘Actually Reduced Crime’

Quattrone Study: Fewer Misdemeanor Defendants Reoffended in Harris County After Bail Reform Injunction

Quattrone Study: Bail Reform Found to Reduce Crime in Harris County

Quattrone Center Bail Reform Study: ‘Less Incarceration and Less Crime’

Quattrone Center’s Groundbreaking Study Cited by Editorial Board in Support of Bail Reform

Quattrone Study Finds That Bail Reform Leads to Drop in Jail Time, Recidivism

Quattrone Center Study Finds ‘Texas Bail Reform Reduced Jail Time and Crime’

Bail Reform

New report finds targeted misdemeanor bail reforms are improving public safety and keeping low-level cases out of jail

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.

Bail Reform Benefits

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

Quattrone Center Affiliated Faculty Kathleen Brown Explains the ‘Freeze’ Response During Sexual Assaults: Philadelphia Magazine

Expanding Judicial Sentencing Discretion

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

Juneteenth

Juneteenth Celebrations

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

Quattrone Center

Quattrone Center Report Offers Guidance on How Defense and Prosecution Teams can Collaborate to Address Prosecutorial Misconduct Claims: Crime Report

Continuing Judicial Education

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

Enhancing Police Accountability and Performance

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

Quattrone Center’s sentinel event review of the exoneration of Malcolm Bryant cited: USA Today

Hermes Hein Aedo LLM’22 and María Alejandra Maldonado Ibaceta LLM’22 aim to apply international perspectives to criminal law reforms in Chile

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

Quattrone Center co-facilitates Sentinel Event Review of ‘Wave 2’ of Seattle Police Department’s response to 2020 protests

“[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.

Q&A with Quattrone Center Assistant Director Ross Miller on the invisibility of prosecutorial misconduct

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

The Quattrone Center’s John Hollway C’92, MAPP’18 and Ross Miller will discuss prosecutorial misconduct at the Harry Frank Guggenheim Symposium on Crime in America

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

Quattrone Center Assistant Director Marissa Boyers Bluestine observes that more than 100 people have been exonerated in Pennsylvania

Quattrone Center Academic Director Paul Heaton explains what plea deals usually entail: The Christian Science Monitor

Quattrone Center Executive Director John Hollway calls for increased awareness of criminal justice system errors: ABC 10

Quattrone Center

Quattrone Center report provides rare insight on the reality of prosecutorial misconduct in Pennsylvania: The Crime Report

Quattrone Center Assistant Director Ross Miller warns of the dangerous invisibility of prosecutorial misconduct

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.

Quattrone Center’s review of prosecutorial misconduct claims finds a lack of transparency and accountability throughout the Pennsylvania criminal justice system

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

Quattrone Center

Quattrone Center report offers 69 recommendations to the Madison Police Department following 2020’s demonstrations for racial justice: The Daily Pennsylvanian

Quattrone Center

Madison PD heed Quattrone Center recommendations in anticipation of demonstrations following Rittenhouse verdict: Wisconsin State Journal

Madison Police Department intends to adopt all 69 of Quattrone Center’s recommendations on handling protests: PBS Wisconsin

Prof. John Hollway

Quattrone Center Executive Director John Hollway explains how Sentinel Event Reviews can help police learn from past experiences: The Crime Report

Quattrone Center

Quattrone Center webinar highlights the outsized role that police-induced false confessions play in wrongful convictions: The Crime Report

Quattrone Center report on MPD’s handling of George Floyd protests is focused on ‘forward-looking accountability,’ says Executive Director John Hollway: Badger Herald

Quattrone Center

Quattrone Center report recommends the Madison Police Department work toward building stronger community ties: NBC15

Quattrone Center releases Sentinel Event Review analysis of the Madison Police Department’s response to the George Floyd protests

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

Quattrone Center

Following 2020’s historic civil unrest, Quattrone Center report recommends 69 changes to Madison Police Department practices: Wisconsin State Journal

Quattrone Center

Quattrone Center report finds that Madison Police Department was ‘unprepared for the scope and emotion’ of the 2020 George Floyd protests: Channel 3000

Quattrone Center Research Fellow Dr. Johanna Hellgren examines how defense attorneys approach plea bargain decisions

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

Quattrone Center Academic Director Paul Heaton argues that ‘bail advocates’ could reduce racial disparities in pretrial detention: The Crime Report

Meghan Downey L’21 argues for a totality of the circumstances approach for habeas petitions in forthcoming article

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.

Quattrone Center Seeks Research Fellows 2022-2023

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.

Twenty years later: Law School faculty reflect on 9/11’s impact on the law

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

Quattrone Center Assistant Director Marissa Boyers Bluestine compliments Minnesota’s ‘holistic, collaborative approach to re-examining convictions’: Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

Penn Shield

Quattrone Center facilitates City of Seattle Sentinel Event Review

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

Police protest

A Distinctly American Problem Needs Systematic Investigation

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

Quattrone Center research on pretrial detention cited in Supreme Court of California ruling

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 launches website to help prosecutors set up conviction review units

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

Corridor

Access to Health Care for Inmates Worsened Since Pandemic, Webinar Told

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.

Quattrone Center’s inaugural summer internship program gives law students opportunity to conduct criminal justice empirical research

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.

Police

Review board releases report on Ingram-Lopez and Alvarado in-custody deaths, Tucson

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.

Troubled woman

Mental Health Court Would Benefit Bucks County, Mentally Ill Defendants, Report Says

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

Quattrone Center’s John Hollway named to Prosecutor Wellbeing Task Force

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).

Quattrone Center Seeks Research Fellows 2021-2022

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.

Structural Frustrations

Law School hosts Structural Frustrations: Challenges to Implementing Change

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.”

Law School hosts Beyond Reform: Reenvisioning the Role of Police

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. 

Police

Reforming police requires action, not commissions

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

Washington Post

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

Protest against police violence

Police think they can get away with anything. That’s because they usually do.

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.

Sansom St. entrance to Golkin Hall.

Former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey shares knowledge and expertise in innovative ‘Policing in the 21st Century’ course

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

Paul Heaton

Firing Montgomery County’s Top Public Defenders is a Step Backward for Criminal Justice

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.

Penn Law faculty predictions for the legal landscape in 2020

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

Former Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey co-teaches a seminar at Penn Law

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

City park

Using Science to Make Cities Safer and Healthier

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.

Philadelphia DA Exonerates 10 Men Wrongly Imprisoned for Murder

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

QC Shield

Save the Date: Transparency in Criminal Justice: A 2020 Vision

Wednesday, April 1 - Friday, April 3, 2020

Marissa Boyers Bluestine

Award-winning criminal justice attorney Marissa Boyers Bluestine joins Quattrone Center as Assistant Director

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.

Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice 2019 Spring Symposium

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?”

Quattrone Center logo

Penn Law’s Quattrone Center leads Philadelphia Event Review Team in analysis of wrongful conviction

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.

Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice

Quattrone Center named as part of Arnold Ventures’s new Partnership for Pretrial Justice

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.

Quattrone Center partners with Baltimore’s justice system to learn from wrongful conviction, exoneration of Malcolm J. Bryant

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.

Penn Law’s Quattrone Center and the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys hold Innovation in Prosecution Summit

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

Paul Heaton, Senior Fellow and Academic Director, Quattrone Center

New study by Paul Heaton and RAND co-authors finds holistic defense effective in reducing mass incarceration

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.

John Legend C’99 moderates panel on opportunity zones and inclusive development at Penn Law

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.

How Penn Law’s Quattrone Center works toward a fairer criminal justice system

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.

Penn Law’s Quattrone Center offering grants to Penn faculty researching ways to improve fairness of U.S. justice system

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.

Penn Law’s Quattrone Center appoints Kimberly Foxx, Ty Stiklorius to Advisory Board

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

Police

Houston Chronicle: Here’s How Houston Can Prevent Police Shootings

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

Advocates Join Effort to Fix Austin Police DNA Lab Problems

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.

Police

Officer-Involved Shootings: Who’s Really to Blame?

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

San Francisco Chronicle: Racial Disparities Drop in Criminal Justice System After Prop. 47, Study Says

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.

Good Law | Bad Law: Rudovsky on Racial Inequality in the 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

David Rudovsky

Philadelphia Eagles: Jeffrey Lurie, Roger Goodell Get An Up-Close Look At Why Players Are Calling For Change

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.

The Atlantic: The Watchdog Inside the DA’s Office

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

Regulation: A Price for Injustice

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

Quattrone Center Responds to Department of Justice Notice of Public Comment on Advancing Forensic Science

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).

Fingerprint

NPR: Fingerprints, Ballistics & Bite Marks Aren’t Indisputable: The Case Against Failed Forensic Science

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

As Executive Director of the Quattrone Center, John Hollway takes a systems-based approach to criminal justice reform.

Students visit D.C., Brooklyn for field research in Model seminar on conviction integrity

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 2016, the Quattrone Center published two studies on the consequences of the cash bail system.

Federal judge orders indigent defendants released, as recommended by Quattrone Center study

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.

Eye

The Crime Report: Double Blind: Preventing Eyewitness Error

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.

Why Closing the Forensic Commission Hurts Crime Victims

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.

John Legend, award-winning musician and activist for criminal justice reform, joins Quattrone Center Advisory Board

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.

Recent work from the Quattrone Center has examined the cash bail system and conviction integrity units.

Penn Law’s Quattrone Center launches new research on reforming, improving criminal justice system with $2.2 million from Charles Koch Foundation

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.

“Abacus: Small Enough to Jail”: A Minority Bank, Racial Bias, and the Democratization of Credit

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.

RegBlog: How Transportation Safety Review Can Play a Role in Regulating Law Enforcement

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.

Police

RegBlog: Reviewing Police Use of Force Through Root Cause Analysis

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.

Philly.com Highlights Quattrone Center Work on Conviction Review Units

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.

News Journal: Does Race Play a Role in Who Goes to Prison in Delaware?

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

Philadelphia Inquirer: Reform system for pretrial incarcerations in Philly

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

Penn Law's new faculty and fellows will work across disciplines, as well as with the Law School's centers and institutes.

Law School adds new faculty, fellows, staff for 2016 academic year

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

Philadelphia Inquirer: Defendants Who Can’t Make Bail Are Likelier to Be Jailed Now and in the Future

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

Quattrone Center Work on Bail Featured on WHYY

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

Houston Chronicle: Bail System is Unjust and Undermines Public Safety

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

New research from the Quattrone Center indicates that the use of pretrial detention may actually cause an increase in crime after those d...

Cash bail system damages defendants, may harm public safety

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.

Houston Press Discusses New Findings on Misdemeanor 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.

Quattrone Center Research on Bail Featured in The Atlantic

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

Wall Street Journal: Reining in Prosecutorial Misconduct

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

Commutation Work of Quattrone Center Affiliate Kathy Brown Featured in Philadelphia Inquirer

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's newest report, Conviction Review Units: A National Perspective, provides recommendations for best practices b...

Quattrone Center issues national report on best practices for Conviction Review Units

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.

How can economics be applied to 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 Discusses Racial Biases in Plea Bargaining

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.

Quattrone Center Joins Legal Experts in Calling for Justice System Reform in Orange County

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.

Philadelphia Daily News: Penn Creates Team to Review Criminal Errors

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 Philadelphia Event Review Team will include the Quattrone Center and criminal justice agencies in Philadelphia.

Quattrone Center receives $350,000 from DOJ to review cases of error throughout Philadelphia

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.

Quattrone Center Fellow to participate in APPAM & Southern Economic Association Annual Meetings

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. 

Quattrone Affiliate Featured in National Review

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.

Quattrone Center Executive Director to Speak at Northern California Innocence Project Symposium

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.

Dr. Erin M. Kerrison

Quattrone Center presents research findings at Mid-Atlantic Law and Society Association Conference

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. 

Economist Paul Heaton will serve as the Academic Director of the University of Pennsylvania Law School's Quattrone Center for the Fair Ad...

Penn Law selects groundbreaking researcher Paul Heaton of RAND as Academic Director for Quattrone Center

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.

The New Yorker: A New Way To Reform the Judicial System

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

The Quattrone Center and the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office used root cause analysis to better ensure the fair administrati...

Quattrone Center and Montco DA’s Office selected for 2015 “Innovations in Criminal Justice” Award

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. led by John Hollway, is working to be the catalyst for long-term structural improvements to the U.S. criminal justi...

An Rx to heal the criminal justice system

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.

From Penn Current: A more perfect criminal justice system

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.

John Hollway, Executive Director of the Quattrone Center.

Media coverage of the Quattrone Center partnership with Montgomery County DA’s Office

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.

The Quattrone Center uses a systems approach to criminal justice to improve procedures and create a culture of learning and professional ...

Penn Law’s Quattrone Center partners with Montgomery County DA’s Office to improve professional standards

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.

Quattrone Center report outlines systems-based model for criminal justice reform

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.

Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins addresses attendees.

Quattrone Center hosts 2014 spring symposium: “A Systems Approach to Conviction Integrity”

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.

John F. Hollway C'92, Executive Director of the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice

Improving the fairness of the criminal justice system

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, Executive Director of the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice.

John Hollway C’92 appointed Executive Director of newly established Quattrone Center

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.

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$15 Million Gift will fund new Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at Penn Law

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.