Criminal Justice

Promoting Public Safety and Criminal Justice

Since 2011, California has embarked on a series of dramatic criminal justice reform efforts, from realignment to recent ballot initiatives and court cases that have changed the state’s approach to people convicted of nonviolent offenses and the structure of the pretrial process. These changes have coincided with a national conversation around the disparate impact of law enforcement on communities of color, as well as increased scrutiny of law enforcement, bail practices, and fees and fines. 

CPL partners with city, county, and state criminal justice agencies on projects focused on diversion, representation of arrestees, sentencing, corrections, community supervision, reentry programs, training, and crime prevention. As a nonpartisan and independent partner, CPL brings decades of expertise, advanced data analysis, and objective research and evaluation to help answer urgent questions. We help our criminal justice partners identify patterns, develop insights, and test new policies to help reduce recidivism, improve public safety, and advance racial equity for California.

In 2024, CPL launched its first Criminal Legal Research Advisory Board (RAB), with five inaugural advisors that are students at the University of California and members of the Underground Scholars Program, a support group for students with prior criminal legal system involvement. The RAB meets quarterly, and RAB members review current CPL research, and provide feedback on research findings, provide input on development and implementation of study methodology, and use their expertise to inform how research results are communicated.

Focus Areas