A major goal of NCIA is to provide honest, accurate, and responsible information about the criminal justice system, particularly alternatives to incarceration. NCIA staff have appeared on NBC’s Today Show, PBS’s The McNeil-Lehrer Report, CNN’s Crossfire, ABC’s 20/20, Nightline, news programs for both the Canadian and British Broadcasting Corporation, and a variety of other news programs.

NCIA publishes two periodic technical newsletters: Coalition for Sentencing Reform Review designed to keep attorneys and courts aware of resources and trends relevant to the fields of sentencing and capital mitigation; and the Jail Suicide/Mental Health Update, which keeps state and local officials and others aware of developments in the field of suicide prevention in correctional facilities. NCIA has also sponsored two national conferences on Reaffirming Rehabilitation, and another national forum on Elderly Prisoners.

National Criminal Justice Commission (NCJC)
In 1994, NCIA established the National Criminal Justice Commission (NCJC) to produce an independent assessment of the American criminal justice system. This was the first national commission to take a comprehensive look at crime and criminal justice policy since the Kerner Commission in 1968. The Commission’s report, The Real War on Crime, was published by HarperCollins in the spring of 1996 and carefully appraised the problems in the criminal justice system and proposed practical solutions. It has become an essential part of criminal justice libraries.

Search and Destroy, Last One Over the Wall
In 1996, Jerome G. Miller, NCIA President and Co-Founder, published Search and Destroy: African American Males in the Criminal Justice System (Cambridge University Press), the definitive analysis of racism in the criminal justice system. Combining the latest statistical research with bold and unflinching candor, Dr. Miller offered a powerful exploration of race in the American criminal justice system.

Dr. Miller’s prior book, Last One Over the Wall (Ohio State University Press, 1991), recounted how he successfully closed the juvenile reform schools in Massachusetts and replaced them with community programs. Winner of the Edward Sagarin Prize in qualitative criminology, this book poignantly explored the problems and possibilities of reform in the justice system.

Coalition for Federal Sentencing Reform
NCIA created the coalition for Federal Sentencing Reform to assess the nation’s experience with the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The goal was to independently assess whether Congress’ sentencing priorities — just punishment, deterrence, incapacitation and rehabilitation — are being met and to suggest improvements where applicable.