The Columbia Justice Lab is a university research center whose work focuses on crime and criminal justice policy. We conduct path breaking research on incarceration, prisoner reentry, youth development, community safety, and racial justice.
Our vision is a community-centered vision of justice in which healing and resiliency, rather than surveillance and punishment, are used to address social problems rooted in racial and economic inequity.
If you are interested in keeping up with our work, we invite you to sign up for our email list.
Recent
Lab Research on Rikers Island Featured in Vital City NYC
The Justice Lab’s research and findings on the pretrial process in NYC have been published in Vital City NYC’s Special Online Issue, “Inside Rikers: Jails can be safer and more humane.”
Bruce Western to Become Russell Sage Foundation President
Professor Western will continue in his role as Director of the Justice Lab into 2025, and will take up the role of President at the Russell Sage Foundation in July 2025.
Columbia Justice Lab Statement in Support of Students
The following is a statement by staff in the Columbia University Justice Lab. We do not speak for the entire Lab, in which there is a diversity of opinions. However, we feel that recent events require us to speak out against University actions.
Probation and Parole
What's Next: Community Perspectives on (Re)Investment After Less Is More New York
The Justice Lab Probation and Parole Project and Unchained partnered with the Less Is More advocacy coalition, led by Unchained and the Katal Center, on a report which details: How do community members across New York State want the cost savings from Less Is More to be invested in their communities?
Upcoming Report on Community Reinvestment
The passage and implementation of the Less Is More Act in 2021 has led to a smaller parole supervision system in New York State. Our preliminary analysis also shows that there has been a significant decrease in the number of people detained in jail for technical violations of parole.
Litigating Probation and Parole Practice and Policy
The ACLU, Columbia University, and Yale University co-host the first of three litigation convenings.