News / The Fair and Just Journal

November 18, 2025

Visualizing Justice: My Full-Circle Moment as an FJP Summer Fellow in Arlington County

This summer, I had the privilege of serving as a Fair and Just Prosecution (FJP) Summer Fellow and Third-Year Practice intern with the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church, where I worked at the intersection of prosecution, policy, and community engagement. This unparalleled opportunity allowed me to get hands-on courtroom experience while also promoting the progressive prosecution mission that brought me to law school in the first place.

My time in Arlington reinforced my belief that prosecution can be a tool for justice, not just punishment. From arguing bonds in court to evaluating diversion program success, this experience showed me how local prosecutors’ offices can lead systemic change through creativity, transparency, and collaboration.

April 15, 2025

It’s Time to End the Practice of Life Without Parole Sentences for Emerging Adults

Across the United States, the use of life without parole (LWOP) sentences for emerging adults persists, despite mounting evidence of its ineffectiveness and cruelty. It is far past time to reevaluate these sentences if we are seeking a criminal legal system that is rooted in fairness, rehabilitation, and the recognition that all young people are more than their worst mistake.

March 31, 2025

It’s Time to Decriminalize the World’s Oldest Profession

Sex work, one of the world’s oldest professions, has been criminalized for decades, pushing those involved into the shadows and exposing them to significant risks. Despite being illegal, over the past 25 years the U.S. has seen a surge in the commercial sex industry, driven by technology that allows for more private transactions.

As society evolves in its understanding of human rights, justice, and public health, the argument for decriminalizing consensual sex work becomes increasingly compelling. Criminalization has failed to reduce the prevalence of sex work or protect those engaged in it. Instead, it has exacerbated their vulnerabilities, perpetuated stigma, and hindered access to essential services. 

Decriminalization, by contrast, offers a framework for improving the lives of consenting sex workers while enhancing public safety and public health.

March 5, 2025

Shifting the Narrative: How Research Challenges Assumptions About Failure To Appear in Court, and the Need for More Data

The framing of failure to appear (FTA) in court often centers on criminal defendants as the problem. In the U.S., many people are detained pre-trial – i.e., before a determination of guilt – because they are unable to pay monetary bail that may be instituted because “defendants pose a substantial risk of flight.” However, according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Virginia, ten years of data from Philadelphia paint a more complex picture: it is not defendants who most frequently fail to appear in court, but other key players—police officers, civilian witnesses, victims, and even lawyers. While the broader FTA problem is likely well known to anyone who regularly appears in court, this was the first research to quantify it, helping corroborate the experiences of criminal legal practitioners.

February 19, 2025

Court-Watching for Accountability: Lessons from Chicago

When we talk about reforming the criminal legal system, there is a big difference between changing a policy on paper and changing practice in courtrooms. Although the US Constitution enshrines the right of public access to court proceedings, in states like Illinois, the judicial branch is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) nor is there a public commission on judicial performance. While the State Attorney’s Offices are subject to FOIA, public performance evaluations are not regularly produced, and one state’s attorney’s transparency efforts, such as the Cook County’s Prosecutorial Performance Indicators (PPIs) dashboard, can be easily reversed by the shifting priorities of a new administration. 

So, how do we know when reform is truly being implemented in court proceedings and whether individuals are experiencing different legal outcomes – especially during prolonged disruptions in the legal system, such as a pandemic?