News

Anne Morrison Piehl steps down officially on June 30, 2013 after serving as Program Director for the past few years.  Patrick Carr was appointed to Program Director and takes over the reigns officially on July 1, 2013; additionally, Alec Walen was appointed as Undergraduate Director to take over the newly vacated position by Patrick Carr.

Twenty-three years later, over a thousand families are still waiting for news of loved ones lost on 9/11.    Rutgers Criminal Justice Professor Mark Desire speaks with 60 Minutes host Scott Pelley on how efforts to search for and identify their remains have never stopped.

“Solitary confinement for incarcerated juveniles has been condemned by psychologists, federal agencies and the United Nations for hindering rehabilitation efforts and damaging children’s mental health.

Yet according to a Rutgers juvenile justice advocate, many of the 300 juveniles who are incarcerated daily in secure facilities in New Jersey have been punished with solitary confinement for several consecutive days.

'Adolescents' brains continue to develop well into their 20s. As a result, they are uniquely vulnerable to the traumatic effects of isolation,' says Laura Cohen, a Rutgers School of Law-Newark professor and director of the Rutgers Criminal and Youth Justice Clinic.

Rutgers law school faculty are working with the ACLU and civil rights and child welfare organizations to end the practice. They created a petition urging the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission, which doesn’t release statistics on how often solitary is used, to substitute other  punishments instead."

To read the full article published in Rutgers Today, click here.

Professor Noura Erakat has been awarded the Amnesty International Chair by Ghent University in recognition of her scholarship and advocacy in furtherance of human rights, and “commitment to advocating for a vision of Palestine that encompasses justice, dignity, and the right to self-determination.”