A Big Week for Criminal Justice Reforms

This week brought a number of significant developments in the world of criminal justice. In New York City, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton introduced new guidelines for documenting and tracking the use of force. New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman announced he would work around the legislature to advance bail reform measures. And in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Senate announced a bi-partisan effort to reduce the length of mandatory minimum sentences and ban solitary confinement for juveniles.

Inimai Chettiar is the Director of the Justice Program at the Brennan Center for Justice. She says the public is now seeing the results of years of campaigning on this issue by groups like hers. And she says while liberals and conservatives have found common ground on reducing mass incarceration and reforming sentencing for years, it's now that presidential candidates like Hillary Clinton and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaking out about the issues.

"The coalition of groups, the right, left, convergence of groups around the issue is not something that is new," Chettiar says. "What is new is these mainstream politicians kind of coming into the fold."

WNYC's Jami Floyd spoke Friday with Chettiar.