Burns Institute | For Justice, Fairness & Equity

About the W. Haywood Burns Institute

Our philosophy is simple — Incarceration is harmful to the positive development of our children; Data is key towards an understanding the complexities of racial inequity within the youth justice system; and Local communities can play a critical role in transformational change.

A Brief History of Youth of Color in the Justice System

Today, more than 2 million people are incarcerated and more than 7 million are on probation, parole, or other supervision in the United States. Too much of the analysis about how we arrived at this situation and what should be done about it is ahistorical.

Mapping the Youth Incarceration Problem

With 75 percent of youth locked up for non-violent offenses, our country doesn't have an alarming crime problem. We have an incarceration problem.

Improving the Well-Being of Children of Color

The child well-being framework firmly asserts the rights of all young people, regardless of their race and ethnicity, to be viewed as children who are experiencing a normal adolescent journey and to be treated with fairness and equity.

News & Updates

Pandemic Justice

Last year, before social distancing was a thing, I participated in a meeting where a justice stakeholder passionately explained to me why focusing on reducing racial and ethnic disparities was a mistake that threatened the public safety of victims that they were sworn to protect. For nearly twenty years, I have participated in these discussions. ...

Raising up ALL voices – We must flatten the curve behind the wall, too!

Let’s Stop Potential and Unintended Death Sentences As the Coronavirus or COVID-19 as it has now been designated, makes its way to the western world, it has infected 214,915 (and counting) and killed 8,733 while simultaneously exposing deficiencies in diverse facets of society’s infrastructures along the way. The United States has been able to take some ...