Partner Charles B. McKenna, of the Firm’s White Collar Criminal Defense and Investigations Practice, authored a column for the Star-Ledger on January 30, 2022, “Crime needs to be fought at all levels, not just in the street.” Formerly Chief Counsel to Gov. Chris Christie, and Chief of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark, Charlie suggests that criminal justice reform would be more effective if it focused on the prison conditions, humanizing inmates and providing rehabilitative programs to make them better able to deal with society on their release, rather than just the length of sentences. “Real change needs to start in our correctional facilities, which fail daily to promote anything other than an extension of the lawless streets that landed inmates in prison in the first place.” Understanding that there are no easy answers to the problems of prison reform, Charlie believes prisons need to completely rethink their approach to incarceration, with mental health and educational programs, so that prisons can truly rehabilitate their “captive audience.” “We need to understand that nearly every prisoner will eventually reenter society, ill-equipped to become a functioning member” under the present system, Charlie notes.
Read the full column at Criminal Justice Reform.
