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In mid-August, the Baltimore Board of Education announced plans to increase the number of police present in Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS) – a decision that was met with mixed reactions. Leaders of the teachers’ and administrators’ unions both praised the move, citing the need for school police to be inside schools, building relationships with […]

As new technologies change – and potentially disrupt – the labor economy, how can lower and middle income families stay afloat? In 2010, Andy Stern, Ronald O. Perelman Senior Fellow at Columbia University’s Richman Center and Open Society Foundations Board Member, stepped down as president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) – one of the fastest growing unions in recent […]

Today, OSI grantee the Justice Policy Institute released “Defining Violence: reducing incarceration by rethinking America’s approach to violence,” which suggests that reforming the U.S. justice system’s approach to violent crime is key to lowering incarceration rates. While many reform efforts focus on non-violent crime, the report notes that just under half the prison population has been […]

On August 27th from 7-10 p.m., Gallery Four in Baltimore will host the opening of THESE EYES, an exhibition by the late artist, Shane McCallum, curated and organized by 2015 OSI Community Fellow Dave Eassa and his project Free Space. McCallum spent nearly 40 years in the Maryland prison system, where he turned to artistic […]

Last night, about 50 people from community groups including the No Boundaries Coalition, Out for Justice, Power Inside, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, Hollaback! Bmore and others, along with OSI staff, Community Fellows, and members of OSI’s Leadership Council, met with representatives from the Department of Justice (DOJ) at OSI’s office to discuss the DOJ’s […]

The Maryland Daily Record recently announced OSI-Baltimore 2014 Community Fellow Zina Makar will lead the new Pretrial Justice Clinic at the University of Baltimore School of Law. The clinic will focus on bail reform and pre-trial detention, “one of the major sources of mass incarceration in Maryland.” During her fellowship, Makar partnered with the Public Defender’s […]

Tara Huffman, director of OSI-Baltimore’s Criminal and Juvenile Justice program, joined the Marc Steiner show on Thursday and again on Monday to discuss the Department of Justice’s investigation of the Baltimore Police Department (BPD), launched in the wake of the death of Freddie Gray (see OSI’s statement about the findings). On Thursday, she was joined by 2002 OSI Community Fellow […]

Student-led class in the Holistic Me afterschool program. Photo by Colby Ware   This week, Baltimore Board of Education announced plans to increase the number of police present in Baltimore City Public Schools. According to the Baltimore Sun, school officials, citing safety concerns and an effort to build relationships between officers and students, will reinstate […]