BARRY MAHONEY sent out an e mail a few days ago, the text of which was something a lot of people hoped that they would never receive:  Barry is retiring.

Recently, Barry served as President Emeritus of The Justice Management Institute.  He was JMI’s President in 1993-2002 and 2008-09.  He has directed JMI projects on caseflow management, drug court planning and implementation, rural courts, pretrial services, pro se assistance programs, and strengthening justice system processes to help prevent the conviction of innocent persons.

During 2012-13, he worked with the MacArthur Foundation’s Models for Change initiative on juvenile justice issues in Louisiana and two other states.  His earlier work includes serving as an Assistant Attorney General in New York State, Associate Director of the National Center for State Courts, Director (twice) of the London Office of the Vera Institute of Justice, and Director of Research at the Institute for Court Management.

To scores of people in the criminal justice system he is simply Barry, but Dr. Mahoney is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School, and holds a PhD in Political Science from Columbia University.  He has taught extensively in judicial education programs presented by JMI, the National Judicial College, the National Center for State Courts, and other national and state organizations.  For decades he has prodded, cajoled, and drug people toward a better system of justice.

But, there is a ray of hope:  Committed as Barry is to spending more time with his family, he did say he might be available for selective assignments.