Stories

Moderator JaKathryn Ross, senior director of community affairs at Georgia Pacific, began the panel by asking Leroy Perry, re-entry coordinator at New Orleans Mission, about the challenges that restored citizens face as they re-enter society. Oftentimes, difficulty finding employment contributes to recidivism; however, Perry challenged this idea, pointing out that many people who are employed […]

Though we may have arrived at our current criminal justice system through the actions of many well-meaning individuals, far too many of its features run counter to the basic principles of a free society. The United States currently incarcerates 2.2 million people, at a rate of over 700 for every 100,000 residents. Somewhere between 70 […]

Ford Foundation program officer Kirsten Levingston moderated this panel and opened the session by challenging the panelists to describe the purpose of police. Anne Milgram, vice president of criminal justice at the Arnold Foundation, argued that policing should be geared toward building safe communities where people have opportunities to succeed. But, she said, policing has moved […]

This panel highlighted the issue of overcriminalization—the use of criminal rather than civil or administrative law to punish behavior that historically would not have been punished criminally. The trend toward overcriminalization is yielding dangerous consequences for the rule of law. Louisiana State University professor emeritus of law John Baker began by noting the troubling fact that we […]

In 2011, fisherman John Yates was convicted of a felony under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act’s “anti-document-shredding” provision, punishable by up to 20 years in prison. What did Yates do to earn a conviction under a law intended to prevent white-collar criminals from defrauding investors and the public? He allegedly threw 3 of 72 fish he had […]

Criminal sentencing laws in America are in need of reform. This is especially true for mandatory minimum sentencing laws, which remove a judge’s discretion and require that defendants convicted of certain crimes be sentenced to prison terms of a minimum length. At the federal level, according to Arizona State University Law professor Erik Luna, “Federal […]

By Sarah Ruger Each year, Americans recognize the importance of free speech during the third full week in October. There is no shortage of holidays that celebrate our freedoms (Independence Day, Constitution Day, First Amendment Day, etc.), so why does free speech merit a whole week of attention? Because free expression is essential to all […]

Earlier this year, New Mexico enacted a bill largely abolishing the practice of civil asset forfeiture, requiring that a person be convicted of a criminal offense before having his or her property seized. The reform may come as a surprise, given the state’s record: Since 2008, New Mexico law enforcement agencies have spent $24.5 million […]

Honest Enterprise, a project of Stand Together Trust, is pleased to announce the release of its latest film, Farming in Fear. The recipient of this year’s Audience Award at the Anthem Film Festival, Farming in Fear tells the story of Martha Boneta, a young, idealistic woman who fulfills her childhood dream of buying and operating […]

Why do the American people have the foreign policy views they do? What do their views appear to suggest for future policy? These were both issues tackled during Stand Together Trust’s event on Tuesday, September 22 on Capitol Hill. The discussion panel, entitled “The Politics of American Foreign Policy” featured Michael Desch, professor of political […]