POLICY REFORM
To build broad support for federal and state reforms, AJFA's staff combines cutting-edge expertise with a strategic, relationship-driven approach that is unique to the criminal justice reform space. Our areas of policy focus are informed both by community need and by political opportunity, encompassing issues that range from sentencing to clemency to the creation of conviction integrity units in district attorney offices around the country. In all of our policy work, AJFA forges unexpected partnerships in support of achievable but effective reforms around which we should all be able to rally.
What does common-sense criminal justice reform look like? In 2024, Minnesota became the tenth state in U.S. history to adopt laws banning police from lying to children during interrogations. This groundbreaking reform was first passed on a bipartisan basis in Illinois in 2021, inspired by AJFA clients who falsely confessed during interrogation to crimes they never committed, and has spread like wildfire. AJFA’s staff, which includes leading experts on police process and interrogations, has been closely involved in this effort around the country alongside law enforcement, prosecutors, and defense organizations.
Here's the backdrop: Across the United States, interrogators are often trained to question kids by lying about the evidence against them (“we found your DNA at the scene”) and lying about the consequences of confessing (“if you confess to murder, you’ll go home”). These outdated tactics have resulted in hundreds of proven false confessions and wrongful convictions. In these cases, innocent kids spend years behind bars, the real perpetrators go free, and community trust in policing plummets.
After law enforcement organizations agreed that deceptive interrogation tactics were not needed to solve crimes accurately, a wave of reform followed in both red and blue states. Lawmakers agreed that banning these unreliable old techniques would increase public safety and trust by encouraging the use of more modern, effective investigative techniques. Illinois’ bipartisan bill passed nearly unanimously, and in Oregon, the lead bill sponsor was a former police officer.
The result? A growing system of policing practices less likely to generate wrongful convictions and more likely to solve cases correctly while preserving community trust. As Illinois bill sponsor Rep. Jim Durkin, the Republican leader, told the New York Times: “Our criminal justice system should not be guided by a conviction, but rather it should be guided by the advancement of the truth.”