CJS Initiatives and Projects At-A-Glance

Initiatives and Projects At-A-Glance
The American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section has the primary responsibility of working on solutions to
issues involving crime, criminal law, and the administration of criminal and juvenile justice for the association. The
Section plays an active leadership role in bringing the views of the ABA to the attention of federal and state courts,
Congress, and other federal and state judicial, legislative, and executive policy-making bodies. The Section also
serves as a resource to its members on issues in the forefront of change in the criminal justice arena.
ABA Standards for
Criminal Justice
The ABA Criminal Justice Standards guide policymakers and practitioners working in
the criminal justice arena. In the years since the seventeen volume First Edition, a Second
and Third Edition have been completed, and a Fourth Edition is well underway. The
Standards continue to be frequently relied upon by judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys,
legislatures, and scholars who recognize that they are the product of careful consideration
and drafting by experienced and fair-minded experts drawn from all parts of the criminal
justice system. Current projects include revising the Prosecution and Defense Function
Standards, the Mental Health Standards, the Diversion Standards, and development of
new Standards on corporate and other monitors.
ABA National Inventory
of the Collateral
Consequences of
Conviction
Developed with a grant from the National Institute of Justice as a provision of the Court
Security Improvement Act, the database collects and analyzes the collateral consequences
for each U.S. jurisdiction to help legislators, prosecutors, public defenders and defense
lawyers, legal aid organizations and the national media to report, develop and implement
safety-enhancing and economically beneficial collateral consequences reforms.
Clemency Project 2014
The Clemency Project 2014 was created to assist federal inmates serving sentences
for certain non-violent crimes in filing petitions for sentence commutation with the
Department of Justice. The American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section is a proud
member of CP 2014 a working group comprised of lawyers and advocates including, the
American Civil Liberties Union, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, the National
Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Federal Public and Community Defenders,
and lawyers within those groups.
Achieving an Impartial
Jury: Addressing
Bias in Voir Dire and
Deliberations Project
The ABA Criminal Justice Section, with co-sponsorship from other ABA entities
has embarked on a new project that offers a methodical, research-based approach to
increasing impartiality among jurors, attorneys, and judges. The “Achieving an Impartial
Jury: Addressing Bias in Voir Dire and Deliberations” Project seeks to create a Tool Chest
of user-friendly options for education and debiasing techniques and offers a strategic,
collaborative rollout of the Tool Chest and training to courts.
ABA Criminal Justice Section
Task Force on the Reform
of Federal Sentencing for
Economic Crimes
The ABA Criminal Justice Section Task Force on the Reform of Federal Sentencing for
Economic Crimes completed its first draft guidelines and submitted its recommendations
to the U.S. Sentencing Commission for review. The recommendations address the
growing concern that reliance by judges on the current Federal Sentencing Guidelines for
economic crimes resulted in sentences that were too harsh, especially in cases with high
losses.
Racial Justice
Improvement Project
American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section launched the Racial Justice
Improvement Project (RJIP) with support from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).
The RJIP is designed to identify and reform policies and practices that produce racial
disparities in local criminal justice systems across the country.
ABA Criminal Justice Section - 1050 Connecticut Avenue, NW, 4th Floor - Washington, DC 20036
Phone 202-662-1500 - Fax 202-662-1501 - [email protected] - americanbar.org/crimjust