Criminal Justice Failures

The Center for Court Innovation (US) has produced a new book that anyone advocating for justice reform, on either the political right or left, should read.

Daring to Fail: First-Person Stories of Criminal Justice Reform. A collection of interviews with leading criminal justice thinkers and policymakers, Daring to Fail offers valuable lessons about leadership, management and innovation.

and from page 3

Recognizing this, the Center for Court Innovation and the U.S.
Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance have launched
a multi-faceted initiative designed to promote innovation at the
grassroots level by encouraging criminal justice agencies to engage
in a process of trial and error – much the way a scientist would.
A large part of this effort has been devoted to studying criminal
justice reform efforts – both successes and failures – in an effort
to identify lessons for the innovators of tomorrow. By fostering a
more open and honest public discussion of failures in particular,
the project seeks to encourage self-reflection, transparency and
thoughtful risk-taking among criminal justice agencies.

Well done, well done! Learn from mistakes. Canadians, learn from the mistakes of our neighbours.

My favourite line from this book, though I haven't finished reading yet, is from page 11:

The other big failure is incarceration

Critical, honest thinking is crucial, especially at times like this.

Reminder, this blog expresses my personal opinions