A few thoughts on justice...

I would like to say that I am surprised by the grand jury’s decision in the Ferguson case last night, but honestly I am not. And to be truthful it concerns me that I have become desensitized to such things. As a criminologist and criminal justice reform advocate, I can tell you little surprises me when we talk about criminal justice in this country. Colleagues of mine often call it the "injustice system" and in a lot of ways that is exactly what it is. We rely on antiquated concepts of punishment and retribution to lock up more people than any other nation in the world, and all in the name of justice.

However, the reality is there is little justice or accountability involved in any aspect of this system. Simply look at the stats - the poor and communities of color have been decimated by the "justice" system.

• One in three black men will be justice involved in his lifetime
• We spend billions upon billions of dollars to round up thousands of immigrants crossing the border and send them to CAR (Criminal Alien Requirement) facilities, run by private prison companies contracted through the Federal Bureau of Prisons. To provide some clarity, no these CAR facilities are not part of the civil immigration system, they are a byproduct of Operation Streamline, which in 2005 codified illegal entry and reentry as a federal criminal offense subject to up to 25 years in federal prison, prior to deportation.
• In the last 40 years the number of people entering jails and prisons with mental illness has exploded.

We find it much easier as a society to pay billions of dollars in corrections costs than to invest in community services and supports. We create laws that often disproportionately impact the poor and communities of color in the name of justice. And we cast shame and blame on victims of crime by often first asking them what they did to become a victim, and then by not offering adequate financial resources or services to help them recover.

True justice reform requires more than just changing a few drug laws and adjusting policing practices, it requires us to think differently about communities, outcomes and rehabilitation. The justice system should focus on accountability and not purely punishment. And as hard as it can be to say and admit, the answer to incidents like Ferguson should not be to seek justice by relying on the same broken system that has taken so much away from communities of color. Even if you change the face, race, or occupation of the person - more arrests, more prosecutions and more prison time is not the answer.

We need to rethink our approaches to justice, community investment, and civic involvement. It’s not enough to protest events like Ferguson, but we also have to make it count at the ballot box. Broad reforms and systemic change are not going to happen without bold, brave and quite frankly new leadership across this country. Yes, we who are part of the criminal justice reform community have been beating the drum against mass incarceration and have made some progress and some institutional changes around the country, but until there is a wave of bold political leadership behind us our work is just tinkering at the edges of a massively broken system. 

~ DC3FO