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Five Questions with Criminal Justice Reform Leader Adam Gelb

About some of America's unfinished business...

Dec 26

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Criminal Justice reform is part of our nation’s unfinished business. By the end of the Obama administration, we were making some progress. Traditional, conservative “tough-on-crime” policies were being challenged by new “smart-on-crime” strategies that used data-driven best practices to determine how to keep communities safe and prevent and deter crime without busting government budgets. It turns out that “locking people up and throwing away the key,” the frequent refrain from the tough-on-crime crowd, is neither effective nor cost-effective.

Adam Gelb is the president and CEO of the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ), an invitational membership organization and nonpartisan think tank dedicated to developing policies and practices that garner bipartisan support and enhance safety and justice for all. From 2006 to 2018, Adam led criminal and juvenile justice reform initiatives at the Pew Charitable Trusts. That work helped 35 states implement meaningful reforms and it continues under his watchful eye, steering a group that boasts a bipartisan fellowship that includes former attorneys general and high ranking DOJ officials, and current and former prosecutors from across the country, as well as people in law enforcement, business, civil society, and the military. It’s the sort of broadly based, community-engaged coalition that is necessary for this kind of work to succeed.

The first Trump administration derailed a number of important national priorities. Criminal justice reform initiatives suffered. But because of people like Adam, who are committed to the work, it has continued outside of government. Tonight, we discuss what the latest crime data shows and what it means, including a trove of information and analysis from CCJ. The Republicans are sure to run on crime and inflated claims of dangerous cities in 2026. Let’s take a moment tonight to learn about what some of the most recent numbers actually say, and the gap between the reported patterns and perceptions. It’s a conversation you don’t want to miss!

“Five Questions” is a feature for paid subscribers, my way of thanking people who are able to support this work so that I can devote the necessary time and resources to it. I appreciate everyone who reads the newsletter and works to stay informed, so free subscriptions, with access to all of the other posts, will always be available.