SMART ON CRIME INITIATIVES GAIN MOMENTUM

Big changes in criminal justice policy announced today by our nation's top law enforcement officer, focused on reducing the number of people in federal prisons for non-violent drug offenses. "By reserving the most severe penalties for serious, high-level or violent drug traffickers, we can better promote public safety, deterrence and rehabilitation, while making our expenditures smarter and more productive," Holder says in his speech. At the local level, Milwaukee's top prosecutor, DA John Chisholm, reached this conclusion 7 years ago, and has since worked to put similar policies into effect. Similar policy initiatives have begun in neighboring Waukesha County.

Find out more about those efforts from a presentation Craig Mastantuono did for the Wisconsin State Bar earlier this year on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in criminal cases.