Addressing Racial Disparities

We seek to document and address racial disparities in the justice system.

The Center for Justice Innovation is committed to studying and reducing racial disparities in the justice system. This effort includes bringing together experts to examine the role that race plays in risk assessment instruments; documenting public perceptions of justice among communities of color; advancing culturally responsive programming for domestic violence survivors and their families; and examining how restorative justice might help reduce the racial impacts of disciplinary measures in schools.

Given that nine out of ten people being held in jail in New York City are Black or Latino, we recognize the urgent need for action on a local level. In response, we are taking active steps to reduce the disproportionate impact of the criminal justice system on communities of color by helping the city to remove hundreds of thousands of summonses from the criminal process, diverting low-level cases prior to any criminal adjudication, and offering alternatives to incarceration to thousands of defendants every year. We are adapting lessons from this work to aid the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge, which seeks to reduce the use of jail across the United States and the disparate impact of incarceration on people of color. Through Project SAFE, we're also working to improve the services offered justice-involved Black and African-American women who are survivors of intimate partner violence and sexual assault.

Initiatives

Bronx Community Solutions

Bronx Community Solutions provides community-based alternatives to jail, restores community relationships, and helps participants avoid further criminal justice involvement.
Brooklyn Justice Initiatives

Brooklyn Justice Initiatives seeks to improve how the centralized criminal court in Brooklyn responds to misdemeanor and felony cases.
MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge

The MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge seeks to reduce over-incarceration by changing the way America thinks about and uses jails.
Past Price of Justice Work

The Price of Justice Initiative helps jurisdictions address the disparate impact of fines and fees on defendants who cannot afford them.
Project SAFE

Project SAFE works to improve the services offered to criminalized black women who are survivors of intimate partner violence and sexual assault.
Rethinking Rikers Island

By providing support to the Independent Commission on Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform, we're aiding in the effort to reduce New York City’s jail population and close Rikers Island.

Publications & Digital Media

Label:Publication

"Two Battlefields": Opps, Cops, and NYC Youth Gun Culture

by Elise White, Basaime Spate, Javonte Alexander, and Rachel Swaner

Our study of more than 100 young gun-carriers in Brooklyn identifies fear—for themselves and their loved ones—as the overwhelming factor behind the decision to carry. Under constant threat from other gun-carriers, as well as from police, and deprived of economic opportunities, participants describe a world with vanishingly few options. This report is part of a first-of-its-kind project using street participatory research to explore the socio-cultural roots of gun-carrying in U.S. cities.

Reducing Violence, Reducing Trauma, Addressing Racial Disparities, Youth Initiatives
Label:Video

The Tulsa County Domestic Violence Court - Videos

The Tulsa County Domestic Violence Court in Oklahoma is a criminal court model that handles misdemeanor and felony domestic violence cases and coordinates with family court in an urban setting. Learn from the court and stakeholder team about this specialized domestic violence court and how it tackles offender accountability, working collaboratively, and victim safety.

Aiding Survivors, Addressing Racial Disparities, Gender and Family Justice, Strengthening Families
Label:Publication

Guns, Safety, and the Edge of Adulthood in New York City

by Rachel Swaner, Elise White, Andrew Martinez, Anjelica Camacho, Basaime Spate, Javonte Alexander, Lysondra Webb, and Kevin Evans

Our year-long study of young New Yorkers in areas with high rates of gun violence found the fear of police and widespread experiences of violence are primary motivations for carrying a gun. The findings suggest public safety efforts centered on law enforcement are failing to make these young people feel safer. The report concludes with recommendations that account for the violence—both interpersonal and systemic—shaping their daily lives.

Addressing Racial Disparities, Reducing Trauma, Reducing Violence, Youth Initiatives

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News

Why We Prioritize Economic Justice

Everyone deserves meaningful opportunities to make a stable living. For our teams across the city, that raises a critical question: What does it look like to build economic justice from the ground up?
Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams in Conversation with the Street Action Network

To mark the launch of the cutting-edge Street Action Network, Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams led a conversation with Co-Directors Javonte Alexander and Basaime Spate on the future of community safety research.
Starting Off Strong: Centering Parent-Child Relationships in Family Court

Family courts have an important role to play in breaking cycles of trauma. The Strong Starts Court Initiative shows how.

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Initiatives

Publications & Digital Media

Publications Results

News

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We work with reformers around the world.