When the Sentencing Project celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2011, it could have easily rested on its laurels. After all, it is globally recognized as one of the premier organizations advocating criminal justice reform, working to end unjust racial disparities, and promoting alternatives to incarceration. Originally founded to help train defense lawyers be more effective in these areas, the Sentencing Project has evolved into a criminal justice reform organization that reaches far beyond defense attorneys by educating legislators, judges, prosecutors, and the general public on the need for reform.
To celebrate their 25th anniversary, the Sentencing Project asked some of the greatest minds in the criminal justice reform field to share their visions of the future. The result, To Build a Better Criminal Justice System: 25 Experts Envision the Next 25 Years of Reform, is a fascinating look at what should, and can, be done. Each essay can be read by clicking on the link at the end of this article.
Edited by Marc Mauer and Kate Epstein, To Build a Better Justice System includes the following informative topics:
Summoning the Superheroes: Harnessing Science and Passion to Create a More Effective and Humane Response to Crime: Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Keynote Address by Jeremy Travis
A Visionary Criminal Justice System: Our Unprecedented Opportunity by Alan Jenkins.
The Human Rights Paradigm: The Foundation for a Criminal Justice System We Can Be Proud Of by Jamie Fellner.
The Justice System in 2036: How States Ended the Era of Mass Incarceration by Dennis Schrantz
What’s Money Got to Do With It? The Great Recession and the Great Confinement by Marie Gottschalk.
Resetting Our Moral Compass: Devastated Communities Leading the Fight for a Just System by Leonard E. Noisette
Vital Discussions: How to Stimulate a Frank National Conversation About Race by Robert D. Crutchfield.
The Elephant in the Room: The Necessity of Race and Class Consciousness by Susan B. Tucker
The Promise of Prevention: Public Health as a Model for Effective Change by Deborah Prothrow-Stith, M.D.
Attica Futures: 21st Century Strategies for Prison Abolition by Angela Y. Davis
There Is No Juvenile Crime Wave: A Call to End the War Against Children by Barry Krisberg
Juvenile Justice in 25 Years: A System That Passes the “My Child” Test by Bart Lubow
A Worldwide Problem: The Roots of Mass Incarceration by Andrew Coyle
Seeking Justice: A Crucial Role for Prosecutors in Reducing Recidivism by Charles J. Hynes
What We Did in Dane County: How Reform Saved Money and Increased Public Safety by Kathleen Falk
“Remember the Ladies”: The Problem With Gender-Neutral Reform by Meda Chesney-Lind
Retire the Leeches: The Promise of Evidence-Based Solution by Seema Gajwani
Reaping What We Sow: The Impact of Economic Justice on Criminal Justice by Elliott Currie
Marching Upstream: Moving Beyond Reentry Mania by Glenn E. Martin
Addicted No Longer: Breaking Away from Incarceration as a Primary Instrument of Social Control by James Bell.
Prisons that Look Like America: Applying the Principles of Affirmative Action to the Criminal Justice System by Paul Butler
Defending the Future: The Fundamental Right to Effective Defense Counsel by Randolph Stone
The “Iron Law” of Prison Populations: Reducing Prison Admissions and Length of Stay to End Mass Incarceration by Todd Clear
Surrender the War on Drugs: The Massive Impact We Can Expect From a Public Health Approach by Vanita Gupta
The International Challenge: The Movement Against the War on Drugs by Vivien Stern
The Light of Freedom: The Transformative Power of a Free Press by Wilbert Rideau
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