Center for Justice Innovation
@innovatingjustice.bsky.social
Building community justice in partnership with communities, courts, and the people most impacted.
Learn more: https://www.innovatingjustice.org/
Learn more: https://www.innovatingjustice.org/
Pinned
Sow Seeds of Justice With Us - Center for Justice Innovation
innovatingjustice.org
Community Justice will not be stopped—but we need your support.
The recent cancellation of hundreds of federal public safety grants across the country—including seven of our own—jeopardizes this vital movement.
Will you help us plant seeds of justice? 🌱
innovatingjustice.org/seeds
The recent cancellation of hundreds of federal public safety grants across the country—including seven of our own—jeopardizes this vital movement.
Will you help us plant seeds of justice? 🌱
innovatingjustice.org/seeds
Did you know that low-level misdemeanors make up over 80% of cases in the justice system?
Drawing on insights from practitioners around the country, our policy brief highlights ways to help people charged with low-level offenses resolve their case and get back on their feet as quickly as possible.
Drawing on insights from practitioners around the country, our policy brief highlights ways to help people charged with low-level offenses resolve their case and get back on their feet as quickly as possible.
A Moment for Misdemeanor Policy Change - Center for Justice Innovation
This policy brief lays out ways to successfully implement reforms to increase early case resolution for most people arrested for lower-level misdemeanors. Doing so frees up resources to reinvest in th...
www.innovatingjustice.org
November 14, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Did you know that low-level misdemeanors make up over 80% of cases in the justice system?
Drawing on insights from practitioners around the country, our policy brief highlights ways to help people charged with low-level offenses resolve their case and get back on their feet as quickly as possible.
Drawing on insights from practitioners around the country, our policy brief highlights ways to help people charged with low-level offenses resolve their case and get back on their feet as quickly as possible.
Implementing more thorough psychological assessments can help connect people in the justice system to care and increase their chances of success in programs that keep them out of jail and prison.
Find key aspects of those assessments and explore examples of how they can support better outcomes. ⤵️
Find key aspects of those assessments and explore examples of how they can support better outcomes. ⤵️
Advancing the Psychology of Diversion - Center for Justice Innovation
Jails and prisons remain the largest institutional providers of mental health treatment in this country. But the screenings generally used when people are detained pretrial are not designed to detect ...
www.innovatingjustice.org
November 13, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Implementing more thorough psychological assessments can help connect people in the justice system to care and increase their chances of success in programs that keep them out of jail and prison.
Find key aspects of those assessments and explore examples of how they can support better outcomes. ⤵️
Find key aspects of those assessments and explore examples of how they can support better outcomes. ⤵️
Drawing on our experience providing hands-on guidance in three rural jurisdictions, this new report offers concrete tips to improve data capacity for rural public defense systems. ⤵️
www.innovatingjustice.org/resources/gu...
www.innovatingjustice.org/resources/gu...
A Guide for Building Data Capacity in Rural Defense Systems - Center for Justice Innovation
Drawing on expert assistance projects in three rural jurisdictions seeking to expand their data capacity and interviews with eight organizations that have successfully built data systems, this guide o...
www.innovatingjustice.org
November 13, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Drawing on our experience providing hands-on guidance in three rural jurisdictions, this new report offers concrete tips to improve data capacity for rural public defense systems. ⤵️
www.innovatingjustice.org/resources/gu...
www.innovatingjustice.org/resources/gu...
The evidence is clear: counsel at first appearance strengthens both public safety and the fairness of the system.
This new policy brief offers practical advice for how to ensure the push for counsel at first appearance transforms into reality on the ground. ⤵️
This new policy brief offers practical advice for how to ensure the push for counsel at first appearance transforms into reality on the ground. ⤵️
Counsel at First Appearance: An Object Lesson in Policy Implementation - Center for Justice Innovation
This policy brief approaches the ongoing efforts to secure early counsel as a challenge of implementation and offers practical advice on ensuring the push is transformed into change on the ground.
www.innovatingjustice.org
November 12, 2025 at 8:31 PM
The evidence is clear: counsel at first appearance strengthens both public safety and the fairness of the system.
This new policy brief offers practical advice for how to ensure the push for counsel at first appearance transforms into reality on the ground. ⤵️
This new policy brief offers practical advice for how to ensure the push for counsel at first appearance transforms into reality on the ground. ⤵️
By shifting to responses that provide support, we can build a justice system that puts people on track for a better, safer future.
Find our latest resources here: www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/just...
Find our latest resources here: www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/just...
The Justice System Shouldn’t Be a Revolving Door. Here’s How to Prevent That.
New resources to help practitioners and reformers break cycles of rearrest and create a justice system that leaves people better off.
www.innovatingjustice.org
November 11, 2025 at 7:36 PM
By shifting to responses that provide support, we can build a justice system that puts people on track for a better, safer future.
Find our latest resources here: www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/just...
Find our latest resources here: www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/just...
Strong communities are safe communities. What would change if all of our policies—inside and outside of the legal system—reflected that basic truth?
www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/what...
www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/what...
To Achieve Public Safety, Invest in Strong Communities
Strong communities are safe communities. What would change if all of our policies—inside and outside of the legal system—reflected that basic truth?
www.innovatingjustice.org
November 5, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Strong communities are safe communities. What would change if all of our policies—inside and outside of the legal system—reflected that basic truth?
www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/what...
www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/what...
Community justice takes all of us. We look forward to continuing our work building safety and justice across New York City with @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social and in New Jersey with @mikiesherrill.bsky.social.
November 5, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Community justice takes all of us. We look forward to continuing our work building safety and justice across New York City with @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social and in New Jersey with @mikiesherrill.bsky.social.
Engaging people who have caused harm in intimate relationships is a crucial part of supporting survivors, fostering healthier relationships, and ending domestic violence in our communities.
www.innovatingjustice.org/resources/ac...
www.innovatingjustice.org/resources/ac...
Building Multiple Pathways to Healing, Safety, and Accountability to Address Intimate Partner Violence - Center for Justice Innovation
Created by TM Migration
www.innovatingjustice.org
October 31, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Engaging people who have caused harm in intimate relationships is a crucial part of supporting survivors, fostering healthier relationships, and ending domestic violence in our communities.
www.innovatingjustice.org/resources/ac...
www.innovatingjustice.org/resources/ac...
"As we wring our hands about the state of masculinity, or about how isolating our AI-dominated future might be, groups like Healing Connections are all the more essential."
A practitioner shares his experience with an accountability group for people who have caused harm in their relationships. ⤵️
A practitioner shares his experience with an accountability group for people who have caused harm in their relationships. ⤵️
What Do Restorative Responses to Domestic Violence Look Like? - Center for Justice Innovation
A practitioner shares his experience with Healing Connections, a restorative accountability group for people who have caused harm in their relationships.
www.innovatingjustice.org
October 30, 2025 at 8:53 PM
"As we wring our hands about the state of masculinity, or about how isolating our AI-dominated future might be, groups like Healing Connections are all the more essential."
A practitioner shares his experience with an accountability group for people who have caused harm in their relationships. ⤵️
A practitioner shares his experience with an accountability group for people who have caused harm in their relationships. ⤵️
“The real invitation of municipal courts is community accountability… Because they’re created and controlled by cities, accountability is no farther away than City Hall."
Read more about the potential of municipal #courts in our interview with Alexandra Natapoff, professor at #Harvard Law School. ⤵️
Read more about the potential of municipal #courts in our interview with Alexandra Natapoff, professor at #Harvard Law School. ⤵️
Voices of Justice: Professor Alexandra Natapoff on the Promise of Municipal Courts
A conversation with Professor Alexandra Natapoff of Harvard Law School on the overlooked impacts of municipal courts.
www.innovatingjustice.org
October 27, 2025 at 8:35 PM
“You’re not walking this alone,” Magaly Melendez, senior program manager of our Bronx HOPE, said. “This is for the community.”
Learn more about the new mobile outreach van that's bringing harm reduction to people in the Bronx: www.bxtimes.com/new-bronx-co...
Learn more about the new mobile outreach van that's bringing harm reduction to people in the Bronx: www.bxtimes.com/new-bronx-co...
New Bronx Community Solutions mobile van hits the streets to address drug addiction in the borough – Bronx Times
The Center for Justice Innovation last month unveiled its new Bronx Heroin Overdose Prevention and Education (HOPE) mobile outreach van, designed to address
www.bxtimes.com
October 24, 2025 at 8:00 PM
“You’re not walking this alone,” Magaly Melendez, senior program manager of our Bronx HOPE, said. “This is for the community.”
Learn more about the new mobile outreach van that's bringing harm reduction to people in the Bronx: www.bxtimes.com/new-bronx-co...
Learn more about the new mobile outreach van that's bringing harm reduction to people in the Bronx: www.bxtimes.com/new-bronx-co...
“Restorative justice is fundamentally about communication, enabling people who have been harmed by a crime to articulate its effects to the person who committed it, and to ask questions that perhaps only that person can answer.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/t...
Could You Embrace the Man Who Killed Your Son? They Did.
www.nytimes.com
October 23, 2025 at 6:07 PM
“Restorative justice is fundamentally about communication, enabling people who have been harmed by a crime to articulate its effects to the person who committed it, and to ask questions that perhaps only that person can answer.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/t...
We’re proud to work alongside Artistic Noise, bringing artistic expression to our Project Reset participants in New York City. 🎨
Learn more about their work here. ⤵️
Learn more about their work here. ⤵️
Artistic Noise helps at-risk youth express themselves through art
Artistic Noise helps at-risk youth create art. Staff and alumni reflected at a central New York incarceration group event at SU Monday.
dailyorange.com
October 23, 2025 at 1:26 PM
We’re proud to work alongside Artistic Noise, bringing artistic expression to our Project Reset participants in New York City. 🎨
Learn more about their work here. ⤵️
Learn more about their work here. ⤵️
“We criminalize low-level, often harmless, conduct, sweeping in millions of people in ways that have flown beneath the radar.”
Revisit our New Thinking #podcast episode featuring Alexandra Natapoff, professor at Harvard Law School, on the realities of misdemeanors in the US criminal justice system.
Revisit our New Thinking #podcast episode featuring Alexandra Natapoff, professor at Harvard Law School, on the realities of misdemeanors in the US criminal justice system.
Misdemeanors Matter #2: Alexandra Natapoff on a Legacy of Injustice - Center for Justice Innovation
Alexandra Natapoff calls the misdemeanor justice system a "quiet behemoth": making up four of every five criminal cases in the U.S., neglected by scholars and reformers, and potentially harming those ...
www.innovatingjustice.org
October 23, 2025 at 1:24 PM
“We criminalize low-level, often harmless, conduct, sweeping in millions of people in ways that have flown beneath the radar.”
Revisit our New Thinking #podcast episode featuring Alexandra Natapoff, professor at Harvard Law School, on the realities of misdemeanors in the US criminal justice system.
Revisit our New Thinking #podcast episode featuring Alexandra Natapoff, professor at Harvard Law School, on the realities of misdemeanors in the US criminal justice system.
Expanding access to treatment and reducing incarceration makes our communities safer.
Read about the push to expand mental health courts in @nysfocus.bsky.social: nysfocus.com/2025/10/17/m...
Read about the push to expand mental health courts in @nysfocus.bsky.social: nysfocus.com/2025/10/17/m...
Lawmakers, Top Judges Push to Expand Mental Health Courts
Statewide diversion courts could keep thousands out of jail, but they'll need more investments in treatment to succeed.
nysfocus.com
October 22, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Expanding access to treatment and reducing incarceration makes our communities safer.
Read about the push to expand mental health courts in @nysfocus.bsky.social: nysfocus.com/2025/10/17/m...
Read about the push to expand mental health courts in @nysfocus.bsky.social: nysfocus.com/2025/10/17/m...
Municipal courts can leave people with overwhelming fines and even jail time for low-level offenses. But they also have the potential to deliver justice in innovative ways.
We discussed the challenges and opportunities of these courts with Professor Alexandra Natapoff of Harvard Law School:
We discussed the challenges and opportunities of these courts with Professor Alexandra Natapoff of Harvard Law School:
Voices of Justice: Professor Alexandra Natapoff on the Promise of Municipal Courts
A conversation with Professor Alexandra Natapoff of Harvard Law School on the overlooked impacts of municipal courts.
www.innovatingjustice.org
October 21, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Municipal courts can leave people with overwhelming fines and even jail time for low-level offenses. But they also have the potential to deliver justice in innovative ways.
We discussed the challenges and opportunities of these courts with Professor Alexandra Natapoff of Harvard Law School:
We discussed the challenges and opportunities of these courts with Professor Alexandra Natapoff of Harvard Law School:
@news12bx.bsky.social hopped on board our Bronx HOPE van to learn more about the latest initiative to bring healing and recovery to the Bronx community.
Watch today: bronx.news12.com/mobile-overd...
Watch today: bronx.news12.com/mobile-overd...
Mobile overdose response and outreach van launches
It is the latest venture from the organization Bronx Hope to connect to the community.
bronx.news12.com
October 20, 2025 at 8:34 PM
@news12bx.bsky.social hopped on board our Bronx HOPE van to learn more about the latest initiative to bring healing and recovery to the Bronx community.
Watch today: bronx.news12.com/mobile-overd...
Watch today: bronx.news12.com/mobile-overd...
Watch as Former AG Loretta Lynch and the First Lady of Oklahoma Sarah Stitt discuss the Women's Justice Commission's findings and recommendations on @msnbc.com
The report aims to discover the unique factors that drive women into the justice system and how we can address these factors. ⤵️
The report aims to discover the unique factors that drive women into the justice system and how we can address these factors. ⤵️
New report looks at how to reduce number of women in the criminal justice system
The Council on Criminal Justice Women's Justice Commission has released its first policy report. Former AG Loretta Lynch and First Lady of Oklahoma Sarah Stitt join Morning Joe to discuss.
www.msnbc.com
October 16, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Watch as Former AG Loretta Lynch and the First Lady of Oklahoma Sarah Stitt discuss the Women's Justice Commission's findings and recommendations on @msnbc.com
The report aims to discover the unique factors that drive women into the justice system and how we can address these factors. ⤵️
The report aims to discover the unique factors that drive women into the justice system and how we can address these factors. ⤵️
The play, based on a remarkable true story of redemption after a one-punch manslaughter, illustrates how restorative justice can help people move forward after serious harm.
What Broadway Show “Punch” Reveals About Restorative Justice
The play, based on a remarkable true story of redemption after a one-punch manslaughter, illustrates how restorative justice can help people move forward after serious harm.
www.innovatingjustice.org
October 15, 2025 at 8:04 PM
The play, based on a remarkable true story of redemption after a one-punch manslaughter, illustrates how restorative justice can help people move forward after serious harm.
Reposted by Center for Justice Innovation
“Of all the things that “Punch” is about, perhaps the most elemental is — to borrow James Graham’s phrasing — “how you create empathy in a cruel society.””
Read about the real-life people behind the new Broadway hit “Punch”, which brings the heart of a restorative justice process to NYC audiences.
Read about the real-life people behind the new Broadway hit “Punch”, which brings the heart of a restorative justice process to NYC audiences.
Could You Embrace the Man Who Killed Your Son? They Did.
www.nytimes.com
September 26, 2025 at 8:00 PM
“Of all the things that “Punch” is about, perhaps the most elemental is — to borrow James Graham’s phrasing — “how you create empathy in a cruel society.””
Read about the real-life people behind the new Broadway hit “Punch”, which brings the heart of a restorative justice process to NYC audiences.
Read about the real-life people behind the new Broadway hit “Punch”, which brings the heart of a restorative justice process to NYC audiences.
Reposted by Center for Justice Innovation
"We had a lot of questions about that night, and the justice system couldn’t answer them."
Hear the incredible true story of restorative justice behind the Broadway show "Punch."
Hear the incredible true story of restorative justice behind the Broadway show "Punch."
Hear from the Real People Behind the Broadway Show “Punch”
“Punch” brings an incredible true story of restorative justice to Broadway. Hear from the real people behind that story in a special episode of our New Thinking podcast.
www.innovatingjustice.org
October 3, 2025 at 7:28 PM
"We had a lot of questions about that night, and the justice system couldn’t answer them."
Hear the incredible true story of restorative justice behind the Broadway show "Punch."
Hear the incredible true story of restorative justice behind the Broadway show "Punch."
Join us on October 16 at 12PM ET for a virtual webinar where members of the Women’s Justice Commission, including our CEO Courtney Bryan, will discuss their findings and recommendations.
➡️ Register for the webinar here: bit.ly/3KH6qEi
➡️ Register for the webinar here: bit.ly/3KH6qEi
Stronger Families, Safer Communities
bit.ly
October 10, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Join us on October 16 at 12PM ET for a virtual webinar where members of the Women’s Justice Commission, including our CEO Courtney Bryan, will discuss their findings and recommendations.
➡️ Register for the webinar here: bit.ly/3KH6qEi
➡️ Register for the webinar here: bit.ly/3KH6qEi
By better tailoring the justice system’s responses for justice-involved women, states, local jurisdictions, and community organizations can prevent crime, strengthen families, improve health, reduce costs, and break cycles of victimization and incarceration.
reports.counciloncj.org/wjc-report/
reports.counciloncj.org/wjc-report/
Welcome - WJC Report
reports.counciloncj.org
October 9, 2025 at 5:18 PM
By better tailoring the justice system’s responses for justice-involved women, states, local jurisdictions, and community organizations can prevent crime, strengthen families, improve health, reduce costs, and break cycles of victimization and incarceration.
reports.counciloncj.org/wjc-report/
reports.counciloncj.org/wjc-report/
Did you know 80% of first-time justice system encounters are for minor offenses?
Municipal courts have the power to connect these people with community-based care instead of fines.
Discover how innovation in these courts is making a difference: www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/muni...
Municipal courts have the power to connect these people with community-based care instead of fines.
Discover how innovation in these courts is making a difference: www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/muni...
Widespread but Often Overlooked, Municipal Courts Demand Our Attention - Center for Justice Innovation
Municipal courts too often create cycles of harm that can get people entangled in the justice system, but they also have the potential to deliver justice in ways that respond to communities’ needs.
www.innovatingjustice.org
October 9, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Did you know 80% of first-time justice system encounters are for minor offenses?
Municipal courts have the power to connect these people with community-based care instead of fines.
Discover how innovation in these courts is making a difference: www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/muni...
Municipal courts have the power to connect these people with community-based care instead of fines.
Discover how innovation in these courts is making a difference: www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/muni...
“We try to show that we’re here to help—whatever needs you have, we’re here to cater to.” — Elvin Severe, Community Navigator
Read more: www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/pret...
Read more: www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/pret...
A New Home for Community Justice in East New York
People awaiting trial in East New York can now find vital resources closer to their own communities.
www.innovatingjustice.org
October 7, 2025 at 7:57 PM
“We try to show that we’re here to help—whatever needs you have, we’re here to cater to.” — Elvin Severe, Community Navigator
Read more: www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/pret...
Read more: www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/pret...