Recent criminal justice reforms, such as the creation of alternatives to incarceration and the tearing down of barriers to reentry from prison, have resulted in significant changes around the country. Nonetheless, there’s one thing that has remained the same: policymakers are failing to consult crime victims prior to the development and deployment of these reforms.
This National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, we urge jurisdictions across the country to bring victims to the table and ask them what they think about criminal justice reform and how they can create a criminal justice system that better takes into account how to make victims whole. Their suggestions may be surprising, and they will help ensure that the changes policymakers create will serve everyone affected by the justice system.
In recent years, policymakers have passed reforms to help curb overcriminalization, reduce jail and prison use, and ensure that sentences are tailored to make the punishment fit the crime. Reporting by the Vera Institute of Justice shows that in 2017, local law enforcement agencies embraced diversion programs and promoted changes to foster trust among the communities they serve. While these changes are long overdue, policymakers have largely excluded victims’ voices from the conversation.
Too often, reformers avoid considering victims’ views because they assume the victims’ highest priority is punishment. But this is far from the truth.
Recent polling published in 2017 by the Alliance for Safety and Justice found that only 4 percent of crime victims believe that “too few people in prison” contributes to crime in their community. In fact, 86 percent of victims believe that programs providing rehabilitation and drug and mental health treatment for people already in the justice system should receive more funding.
In order to encourage more crime victims to participate in improving our criminal justice system, The National Center for Victims of Crime has solicited feedback from victims and their advocates around the country. They found that victims seek reliable, sufficient, and accessible services, and they want justice system transparency and trauma-informed responses to their experiences. Crime victims also believe the justice system should be dedicated in part to making victims whole again, beginning with providing notification and protection for victims when formerly incarcerated individuals reenter the community.
Furthermore, victims think that if people are enrolled in diversion programs such as mental health courts or ordered to participate in drug treatment as part of their probation, these services should be affordable, effective, and adequately supervised. Lack of participant accountability causes victims to distrust and not want to engage with the justice system.
Crime victim survivors deserve a voice at the policy reform table. Many are strong supporters of the exact types of reforms criminal justice experts are advocating. They want their experiences to be acknowledged, and they want our justice system to be sensitive and respectful of their needs.
Victims’ recovery must be made a priority in criminal justice reform conversations. We need an equivalent response to the needs of both individuals involved in crime and victims to push forward with serious, long-lasting reforms.
Additionally, ensuring the success of people leaving prison should be a top concern. Every year, 650,000 people are released from prison, and more than 95 percent of those currently incarcerated will be released at some point back into society. Unfortunately, studies have shown that nearly two-thirds of former prisoners will be arrested again within three years of their release.
It is not in the interest of the victims or the public for those formerly incarcerated to return to a life of crime and cause harm to future victims. We must encourage reforms that promote successful reentry back into the community and remove unnecessary roadblocks to success for former prisoners.
Ensuring that people coming out of prison have a chance to succeed should be a top concern, and victims can play a key role in informing policymakers about how to achieve public safety while respecting the human dignity of everyone involved.
Reformers must be willing to recognize that victims have been affected by unfair justice system policies and practices. They must also respond with adequate funding, research efforts, and resources. The question is, “How can we develop and transform our criminal justice system to improve services for everyone involved?”
We cannot afford to leave victims out of criminal justice reform.
Jordan Richardson is a senior policy analyst at the Charles Koch Institute. Mai Fernandez is the executive director of the National Center for Victims of Crime. Laurie Garduque is the director of justice reform for the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
