Hudson Institute To Host First Step Act's Independent Review Committee

WASHINGTON, April 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Hudson Institute has been selected by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to appoint and host the Independent Review Committee authorized by Title I of the First Step Act. Hudson will assist DOJ's National Institute of Justice (NIJ) as it develops and implements risk and needs assessment tools and evidence-based recidivism reduction programs for federal inmates. John Walters, Hudson's chief operating officer and former director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy for President George W. Bush, will serve on the Committee alongside a group of academic scholars and correctional practitioners chosen for their expertise in risk and needs assessment systems.

"We are grateful to the Department of Justice for choosing Hudson to host the Committee, which will play a vital role in moving criminal justice reform forward," said Hudson Institute Chief Operating Officer John Walters. "Reducing recidivism is a serious issue for the federal justice system, and I look forward to working with my fellow Committee members and the Justice Department to develop the tools necessary to achieve better outcomes for incarcerated individuals and our country."

Hudson Institute has agreements in principle with the following individuals to serve on the Independent Review Committee. Additional details on the Committee will be announced in the coming days.

Patti Butterfield, Ph.D., adjunct faculty member, Southern New Hampshire University and former senior deputy assistant director in the federal Bureau of Prisons Reentry Services Division

James M. Byrne, Ph.D., Professor and Associate Chair, School of Criminology and Justice Studies at University of Massachusetts Lowell and Director of the Global Community Corrections Initiative

Faye S. Taxman,  Ph.D., University Professor and Director of the Center for Advancing Correction Excellence at George Mason University.

George J. Terwilliger III, partner, McGuire Woods, and former Deputy Attorney General and Acting Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice

John P. Walters, chief operating officer of Hudson Institute and former director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the cabinet of President George W. Bush

John E. Wetzel, Secretary of Corrections for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Immediate Past Chair and member of the Executive Committee of the Council of State Governments Justice Center

Click here to read the announcement from the Department of Justice.

For additional information, please contact Hudson Institute at (202) 974-2400 or press@hudson.org. 

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SOURCE Hudson Institute