Description
Book SynopsisHow to envision a justice system that combines the least possible punishment with the greatest possible healing, from an all-star cast of contributors
“An extraordinary and long overdue collection offering myriad ways that we can and must completely overhaul the way we imagine as well as implement ‘justice.’”
—Heather Ann Thompson, historian and Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Blood in the Water
After decades of overpolicing and ever-more punitive criminal justice measures, the time has come for a new approach to violence and community safety. Parsimony and Other Radical Ideas About Justice brings together leading activists, legal practitioners, and researchers, many of them justice-involved, to envision a justice system that applies a less-is-more framework to achieve the goal of public safety. Grounded in a new social contract heralding safety not punishment, community power not state power, the book describes a paradigm shift where justice is provided not by police and prisons, but in healing from harm.
A distinguished cast of contributors from the Square One Project at Columbia University’s Justice Lab shows that a parsimonious approach to punishment, alongside a reckoning with racism and affirming human dignity, would fundamentally change how we respond to harm. We would encourage mercy in the face of violence, replace police with community investment, address the trauma lying at the heart of mass incarceration, reduce pre-trial incarceration, close the democracy gap between community residents and government policymakers, and eliminate youth prisons, among other significant changes to justice policy.
Trade ReviewPraise for Parsimony and Other Radical Ideas About Justice:
“Innovative, well-researched, and persuasive, this is a full-throated call for change.”
—Publishers Weekly
“At a moment of growing support to challenge mass incarceration, Parsimony and Other Radical Ideas About Justice provides us with a compelling vision for transforming our approach to public safety. It is long past time to reject punishment as a guiding principle and to adopt instead a strategy that relies on strengthening the capacity of individuals and communities to thrive.”
—Marc Mauer, senior advisor, The Sentencing Project, and author of Race to Incarcerate
“Parsimony and Other Radical Ideas About Justice goes beyond discussions of fairness. It broaches and confronts social inequality, white supremacy, and racialized capitalism to expand how we understand justice. These ideas will inspire scholars, advocates, and activists to focus on the root causes that infuse policy and practice with ideologies that cause tremendous harm to whole segments of American society.”
—DeAnna R. Hoskins, president and CEO, JustLeadershipUSA
