Criminal Justice Policy
What is Criminal Justice?
ACE’s criminal justice policy research focuses on the history of the criminal justice system in the United States and how it has adapted—or remained the same—through decades of movements for reform and abolition.
We provide information on relevant policy issues impacting the criminal justice system on a local, state, national, and international scale.
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Latest Research
Key Takeaways Alternatives to Detention (ATDs) provide lower-cost options for supervising many immigrants while their cases proceed, often costing less
UPDATE: The Biden administration Executive Orders 14076 (“Protecting Access to Reproductive Healthcare Services”) and 14079 (“Securing Access to Reproductive and
UPDATE: The Save the Rural Hospitals Act, first introduced in 2023, failed to advance and ultimately died in committee. In
What is The HOPE Act 2023 The Harnessing Opportunities by Pursuing Expungement (HOPE) Act of 2023 is a legislative proposal
UPDATE: The EARN IT Act of 2023 was introduced on April 19, 2023, both in the House and Senate. In
UPDATE: The Reproductive Freedom for All Act (S.317) was introduced on February 9, 2023 in the 118th Congress. It was
What are Prison Nurseries? United States prison nurseries are programs within correctional facilities that allow pregnant, incarcerated mothers to keep
The First Step Act The First Step Act is a bipartisan piece of criminal justice legislation signed into law in
UPDATE: The Medicaid Reentry Act was reintroduced into the 119th Congress (2025-2026) as the Reentry Act of 2025 (H.R. 2586).
What is nonconsensual pornography? Nonconsensual pornography, image-based sexual abuse, or as it is most commonly called, revenge porn, are all
Plea bargains have become the primary resolution for many criminal cases in the court system, with 95% of federal criminal
UPDATE: Since the failure of California’s Senate Bill 10 in the 2020 referendum, debates over cash bail have continued across
