America at a Crossroads: Charting a New Course Toward an Integrative Justice Paradigm

ACS is pleased to distribute “America at a Crossroads: Charting a New Course Toward an Integrative Justice Paradigm,” by Catherine Vanchiere Beane, Director of Behind the Cycle, and the principal consultant of Beane Consulting. In her Issue Brief, Ms. Beane begins by observing that “America stands at a crossroads. Incarceration projections, fiscal realities, and political dynamics have converged with a growing body of evidence regarding the diminishing public safety returns of America’s incarceration practices to reveal the shortcomings of ‘tough on crime’ policies.” She argues that there is a significant opportunity to fundamentally reorient criminal justice policy to embrace an “integrative justice paradigm.” “While recognizing the need for effective policing and law enforcement,” this new paradigm is “a conceptual framework for making policy decisions that utilizes multidisciplinary analysis, research, collaboration, and problem-solving to address the underlying, interrelated social and economic issues that fuel cycles of inter-generational incarceration, and to create safe, fair, and equitable communities in which all are able to thrive, particularly those at greatest risk for court involvement.” Ms. Beane discusses the opportunity that exists and then provides “a detailed description of the integrative justice paradigm, and proposes guiding principles and policy recommendations for implementing such an approach.”

Read the full Issue Brief here: America at a Crossroads: Charting a New Course Toward an Integrative Justice Paradigm