The Distinction Between Criminal Justice Reform And Decarceration
Criminal justice reform doesn’t always lead to decarceration.
The United States became the top incarcerator in the world—throwing more people behind bars than any other nation—precisely because of reforms to the criminal justice system.
Some people love, appreciate, or at the very least benefit from mass incarceration. The reforms that benefitted them were positive to them. Others like me deplore mass incarceration and work every day to fight for reforms that decarcerate.
Criminal justice reform may not always lead to decarceration, but decarceration—the quest to drastically reduce the number of people behind bars—requires criminal justice reform.
So stay sharp.
When a person—especially a politician—tells you they’re reforming the criminal justice system, ask them a question: Do your reforms lead to decarceration, or do they send more people to prison?
A serpent signing legislation | Created by Jay W. Austin & DALL•E
This is on my mind because of SB53.
Senate Bill 53 is a piece of legislation recently signed by the governor in Missouri. It’s been touted and celebrated as a hefty “bi-partisan criminal justice reform and police reform” bill.
I’ve read the bill. I even did a podcast about it, which you can listen to below. And let me tell you this…
SB53 hardly reformed policing to make us safer, and it certainly doesn’t decarcerate.
Aye, I’m Jay. You’re on my personal site where I post things I make about interrupting mass incarceration, protecting migration, environmental justice & sustainability, language, communications, storytelling, creativity, and tech.
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