The Promise of Justice Reinvestment

6 Pages Posted: 6 Jun 2012

See all articles by Melanie Schwartz

Melanie Schwartz

University of New South Wales (UNSW)

David Bentley Brown

University of New South Wales (UNSW) - UNSW Law & Justice

Laura Boseley

University of New South Wales (UNSW)

Date Written: June 6, 2012

Abstract

This article examines the notion and practice of Justice Reinvestment (‘JR’), an emerging approach addressing the high social and economic costs of soaring incarceration rates. JR invests in public safety by reallocating dollars from corrections budgets to finance education, housing, healthcare, and jobs in high-crime communities. Key distinguishing features of JR (including justice and asset mapping, budgetary devolution and localism, and the desirability of bipartisanship) are briefly outlined, followed by discussion of its recent emergence and application in the United States, and to a lesser extent in the United Kingdom. The prospects for the adoption of JR approaches in Australia are then considered, with particular reference to the high imprisonment rates of Indigenous people. If JR is to be promoted in the Australian context it is important that it be subject to critical scrutiny and therefore some of the key problems are briefly outlined, before a conclusion which emphasizes the potential benefits of JR.

Keywords: justice reinvestment

Suggested Citation

Schwartz, Melanie and Brown, David Bentley and Boseley, Laura, The Promise of Justice Reinvestment (June 6, 2012). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2078715 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2078715

Melanie Schwartz (Contact Author)

University of New South Wales (UNSW) ( email )

Kensington
High St
Sydney, NSW 2052
Australia

David Bentley Brown

University of New South Wales (UNSW) - UNSW Law & Justice ( email )

Sydney, NSW 2052
Australia
+61 2 9385 2262 (Phone)
+61 2 9385 1175 (Fax)

Laura Boseley

University of New South Wales (UNSW) ( email )

Kensington
High St
Sydney, NSW 2052
Australia

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