Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice

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Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice

A national research and policy hub created to catalyze long-term structural improvements to the US criminal justice system.

The Center takes an interdisciplinary, data-driven, scientific approach to identifying and analyzing the most crucial problems in the justice system, and proposing solutions that improve its fairness for the long-term benefit of society. It conducts independent, unbiased research and programs, engaging all parties—academia, judiciary, law enforcement, defense attorneys, prosecutors, legislators, f

orensic and social scientists, media, and other participants – required to effect substantial change for the better.

06/15/2026

Can a defendant lose an appeal but still gain ground? QC Assistant Director Marissa Boyers Bluestine dives into a recent federal case where a judge denied Carvaughn Johnson's habeas corpus petition on procedural grounds, but still asked the state's Conviction Integrity Unit to revisit potential problems in the case.

Learn more: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCOURTS-ctd-3_24-cv-01847/USCOURTS-ctd-3_24-cv-01847-1

06/11/2026

QC Academic Fellow Dana Bazelon answers the question we've been asking everyone: what's one area of the criminal justice system that needs more research?

What's your answer? Leave it below in the comments or DM us a short video.

06/10/2026

Big congrats to SMU Dedman School of Law Asst. Professor (and former QC Fellow) Laura Abelson, who received the Joel R. Reiedenberg Award at the 2026 Privacy Law Scholars Conference for her article, "The Multidimensions of AI Chatbots as Evidence."

Read her article: https://bit.ly/4v0WZBH

06/05/2026

New reporting from South Carolina found positive signs from two counties that don't rely on presumptive field drug tests alone — including officials from Spartanburg County saying their jurisdiction uses a spectrometer to confirm colorimetric test results.

QC Assistant Director Ross Miller speaks with Fox Carolina News about our research finding that error-prone colorimetric field drug tests contribute to 30,000 wrongful arrests in the U.S. each year:

https://bit.ly/4xalOfZ

06/03/2026

QC Senior Advisor John Hollway shares how Sentinel Event Reviews can help us get to the bottom of the countless ways policies and practices intersect to cause injustice and harm in the criminal justice system.

Learn more on SERs here: https://bit.ly/3JF3GDC

06/02/2026

Want to learn more about how bad science can convict innocent people? Join the Quattrone Center for our next virtual book talk with John Lentini – a fire scientist who has helped people wrongly convicted for arson by debunking junk arson testimony.

We’ll be discussing his recently-released book, Twice Burned: A Fire Scientist's Adventures in Overturning and Preventing Wrongful Arson Convictions. In the book, Mr. Lentini chronicles his fifty-year career as a forensic scientist. Drawing on his most significant cases — including the Lime Street Fire, the Cameron Todd Willingham trial, and the exoneration of Claude Garrett — he documents the evolution of fire investigation as a profession, exposing how widely held but scientifically unfounded beliefs led to wrongful arson convictions.

The book is available now, so grab your copy and join us for a virtual conversation that promises to be thought provoking and informative for anyone and everyone who works in the space of criminal legal system reform.

📅 Virtual Book Talk with John Lentini
June 24, 2026
6:00-7:30 p.m. ET

Register here: https://bit.ly/4ai9Gjd

06/01/2026

In Philadelphia and cities across the country, June is Reentry Awareness Month, a monthlong reminder of the struggles that formerly incarcerated people face — from employment opportunities and housing to ensuring they stay out of trouble with the law. Did you know that recidivism rates nationwide have dropped around 20% over the last decade?

Throughout the month, we'll be highlighting the obstacles that countless people recently freed from prison conquer every day, along with the resources created to increase the likelihood of their success.

Learn more from CSG Justice Center here: https://csgjusticecenter.org/publications/state-recidivism-rates-2006-2022/

05/28/2026

There are over 150 conviction integrity units and innocence organizations in the United States. Can you imagine what could be possible if we knew how they all intake and screen cases for wrongful convictions and official misconduct?

QC Research Project Coordinator Taylor Migliori shares she believes need more research in the world of criminal legal reform. In tandem with University of Pennsylvania Professor Charles Loeffler, she released a resource guide on how conviction integrity units and innocence organizations can work together to free and exonerate wrongfully convicted individuals. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4fNGdkR

05/26/2026

At our Symposium this month, Prof. Andrew Madrigal — whose father was wrongfully convicted and exonerated in California — spoke about the impact of wrongful conviction on the family members of exonerees. Many exonerees desperately want, but never get, an apology from officials, he said.

Address

3501 Sansom Street
Philadelphia, PA
19104

Website

https://www.law.upenn.edu/institutes/quattronecenter/

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