A conference focusing on women in criminal justice was recently held in Springfield, Massachusetts. The 27th Women in Criminal Justice Conference, hosted by the Hampden County Sheriff’s Office, brought together law enforcement agencies from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Virginia. The conference had the theme of 'Paving the Way for Women in Criminal Justice: Lasting Impressions'. Colleen Stocks, Assistant Superintendent of the Women’s Correctional Facility in Chicopee, emphasized that women still only make up five percent of the workforce in the criminal justice field. The keynote address was delivered by Linda Melconian, a former Massachusetts State Senator and current Assistant Professor of Practice in Public Service and Healthcare Administration at Suffolk University in Boston [f9b4a0a8].
In other news, Emily Galvin-Almanza, co-founder of Partners for Justice, has been bringing a different approach to public defense work in Linn County, Iowa for the past year. The nonprofit organization pairs public defenders with case managers to help clients outside of criminal cases, connecting them with resources like housing and employment. The goal is to lower incarceration rates in the community and help people access the things that make communities thrive and safer. From January 1 to March 31, 2024, Partners for Justice case managers assisted 55 clients in Linn County [c2d4f41b].
The Lowell Sun recently published an article providing a log of recent arrests made by local police departments [d726d309]. The article emphasizes that the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty and highlights that Massachusetts' privacy law prevents the release of information on domestic and sexual violence arrests to protect the alleged victims.