Vision

Prioritizing opportunities for change and healing over punishment, the criminal justice/legal system must change how it treats people under its control, including victims. Incarceration should be limited whenever possible, and when used should have a wholly different – inclusive, healing, and therapeutic – culture. A wide continuum of non-jail options should be developed. Policing—while needed in some shape or form—should be significantly different and focus on being community-centered, responding to a smaller category of situations. And alternatives to police should be used whenever possible (like non-armed community members, technological opportunities for simple reporting, and other non-armed police responses). This theme is also supported by recent research for what victims of crime desire.

When an individual is arrested for and convicted of a crime, the downstream impacts are significant. The biggest consequences, ironically, keep someone from doing things expected of them like finding work and stable housing. Under Oregon state law alone, there are well over a thousand statutory and regulatory collateral consequences, many of which challenge an individual with a criminal conviction and their ability to construct a productive life post-incarceration. Even more damaging is the lifelong stigma associated with criminal system involvement, even years after successful exit.

* “Collateral consequences are distinguished from the direct consequences imposed as part of the court’s judgment at sentencing, which can include terms of imprisonment or community supervision, or fines.” - DOJ's National Institute of Justice

Racial equity is key to transforming all systems. In criminal legal, housing, and health systems, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color are disproportionately involved and negatively impacted. In addition to the requirement to increase racial justice and equity, other types of equity must also be included in a transformed system: sex, gender, class, religious, mental health/substance use status, etc. This theme also acknowledges the lack of community-developed and BIPOC-centered supports for victims of crime, particularly for young men of color.

All too often, the criminal legal system is the emergency response for people in crisis and in extreme need. Incarceration should not be the solution to getting three meals a day; arrest should not be the response to a parent stealing food for their hungry children; and prosecution should not be the door that opens eligibility to services and treatment. Social service, housing, health, and behavioral health systems should be adequately resourced to meet the most challenging needs, from food deserts to people experiencing extreme behavioral health distress and acute/chronic trauma. The criminal legal system should be reserved for a small percentage of the instances it currently is required to manage.

The Working Group has heard through stakeholder engagements and academic research that communities must lead the effort to define, design, and implement solutions for their own neighborhoods. Neighborhoods and communities vary wildly in needs and assets and the people closest and most committed to solutions are the ones who live there. It is the funder’s (government) responsibility to partner with and allow communities and neighborhoods to lead in ways that augment public safety on their own terms for their own families and neighbors.

Quality criminal legal, housing, and health systems would help people heal, meet them where they are (physically and emotionally), and acknowledge that hurt people hurt people. Removing people who have been harmed from their families/communities (child welfare) or have caused harm (jail) is how our society has functioned for generations. This is the opposite of honoring the community and relationships that truly help people heal and change. Systems must acknowledge and remedy the dehumanizing aspects of the criminal legal system that cause further harm to individuals, victims, families, and communities (and arguably also add to recidivism). Rather, public safety systems should center wellness and healing through connection, community, and belonging.