About Justice Reinvestment

Over the past 20 years, state spending on corrections has skyrocketed—from $12 billion in 1988 to more than $52 billion in 2011. A number of states under tight fiscal constraints facing the challenge of these growing corrections costs and increasing inmate populations have responded with “justice reinvestment” strategies to reduce corrections costs, revise sentencing policies, and increase public safety.

Justice reinvestment is a data-driven approach that ensures that policymaking is based on a comprehensive analysis of criminal justice data and the latest research about what works to reduce crime, and is tailored to the distinct public safety needs of the jurisdiction. To begin this work, policymakers establish a small, high-level, inter-branch, and bipartisan team of elected and appointed officials to work with the Justice Center’s nationally recognized criminal justice policy experts. These experts then consult with a broad range of stakeholders in the jurisdiction, which may include prosecutors, public defenders, judges, corrections and law enforcement officials, service providers and community leaders, victims and their advocates, and people who have been incarcerated, as well as health, housing, human service, education, and workforce professionals.

Together, these policymakers, experts, and stakeholders analyze a variety of state-specific data to develop practical, consensus-based policies that reduce spending on corrections and generate savings that can be reinvested in strategies to improve public safety. In the second phase of work, jurisdictions translate the new policies into practice and monitor data to ensure that related programs and system investments achieve their projected outcomes.