Sociology

Cites a multidisciplinary literature -- while privileging sociological titles -- on the mutual relationship between law and society with its different actors, institutions, and processes.

Summarizes the evolution of the sociology of law from its early classical writings to its modern theoretical and methodological approaches.

The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth (CFSY) envisions the United States becoming a society that respects all children’s human rights and nurtures their capacity to become leaders, responding to any harm they cause in ways that are rooted in their dignity and unique potential for change. CFSY seeks a response to the harm caused by children that is conscientious of childhood traumas, restorative and empowering to all parties, and equitable, especially with regard to race and ethnicity.

The Center for Children’s Law and Policy (CCLP) is focused on reform of juvenile justice and other systems that affect troubled and at-risk children, and protection of the rights of children in those systems. CCLP is working to create a world where the response to youth who get in trouble with the law is developmentally appropriate, free of racial and ethnic bias, and focused on building strengths that help youth thrive in their own communities.

The Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ) is a nationwide coalition of State Advisory Groups (SAGs) and allies dedicated to preventing children and youth from becoming involved in the courts and upholding the highest standards of care when youth are charged with wrongdoing and enter the justice system.

The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society. Founded in 1989 by Bryan Stevenson, a widely acclaimed public interest lawyer and bestselling author of Just Mercy, EJI provides legal representation to people who have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in state jails and prisons, challenging the death penalty and excessive punishment and providing re-entry assistance to formerly incarcerated people.

The Innocence Project, founded in 1992 by Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck at Cardozo School of Law, exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. Its mission is to free the staggering number of innocent people who remain incarcerated, and to bring reform to the system responsible for their unjust imprisonment.

The Marshall Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system. It has an impact on the system through journalism, rendering it more fair, effective, transparent and humane. Although not an advocate, The Marshall Project often spurs change. Its journalism exposes wrongs, bringing them to the attention of officials who can take action. It gives visibility to proposals and critiques from the criminal justice community. And it tries to set an example for other media to cover criminal justice issues fairly and responsibly.

The National Center for Juvenile Justice (NCJJ) is the oldest juvenile justice research group in the United States. NCJJ's mission is effective justice for children and families through research and technical assistance. For four decades, NCJJ has conducted research and provided objective, factual information that professionals and decision makers in the juvenile and family justice system use to increase effectiveness.

The National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR) works to reduce incarceration and violence, improve the outcomes of system-involved youth and adults, and increase the capacity and expertise of the organizations that serve these individuals. NICJR provides technical assistance, consulting, research, organizational development, and advocacy in the fields of juvenile and criminal justice, youth development, and violence prevention. NICJR works with an array of organizations, including government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and philanthropic foundations.

The National Juvenile Justice Network (NJJN) leads a membership community of 58 state-based organizations and numerous individuals across 42 states and DC. NJJN seeks to shrink our youth justice systems and transform the remainder into systems that treat youth and families with dignity and humanity.

REFORM Alliance aims to transform probation and parole by changing laws, systems and culture to create real pathways to work and wellbeing. A justice system that holds people accountable and redirects back to work and wellbeing leads to stronger families and safer communities. Instead of keeping people trapped in a revolving door from probation/parole to prison — which costs taxpayers billions of dollars — REFORM is working to move people from the justice system into stability.

The Sentencing Project promotes effective and humane responses to crime that minimize imprisonment and criminalization of youth and adults by promoting racial, ethnic, economic, and gender justice. Its policy priorities envision the full inclusion in society of people with criminal records and an end to extreme punishments. Its aim is to center the leadership, voices, vision, and experience of those directly affected by mass incarceration to make the rationale for systemic change vivid, credible and compelling.

The Vera Institute of Justice's mission is to end the overcriminalization and mass incarceration of people of color, immigrants, and people experiencing poverty to create safe, healthy, empowered communities and a fair, accountable justice system.