This OSI discussion with James Austin and Walter Lomax will address parole and probation reform work in Maryland and nationwide.
James Austin is president of the JFA Institute, a nonprofit organization that assists federal, state, and local governments with creating and implementing effective criminal justice policies. The JFA Institute's areas of concentration include the budgetary and programmatic impact of prison population projections, risk assessment and classification systems, parole and probation guidelines, and prison programs for special populations, such as people with mental illness or drug dependence.
Walter Lomax is director of the Maryland Restorative Justice Initiative, which advocates and promotes humane and sensible criminal justice and sentencing policies for individuals who are incarcerated long term in Maryland prisons. Lomax served 39 years for a crime he did not commit and understands, first hand, the workings of Maryland's criminal justice system.
Due to limited seating, participation must be limited to the first 65 responses.