The Justice Lab seeks to foundationally reconceive justice policy through actionable research, community-centered policy development, and the sustained engagement of diverse constituencies.
Our Vision
We envision a community-centered future for justice in which healing and resilience, rather than punishment and surveillance, are used to solve social problems often rooted in racial and economic inequality.
Our Values
- Employ imagination and ask foundational questions – what we call “Square One thinking” – to generate new ideas, push the boundaries of what reform could and should look like, and consider how to make those ideas a reality.
- Center communities and individuals with direct experience of the justice system, poverty, and historic and current racism when identifying priorities and developing solutions.
- Create an active dialogue among policy, advocacy, and top-tier research in order to enhance our ideas and strengthen our impact.
Our Strategies
Leveraging the experience and expertise of community-based experts, researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and advocates, the Justice Lab uses four key strategies to generate new ideas and to create and protect change:
- Designing and conducting research to inform justice policy development and advocacy.
- Serving as a convener to facilitate both peer-to-peer learning and bridge-building among diverse and interdisciplinary perspectives.
- Disseminating new ideas for justice policy and practice, building readiness and momentum for change and driving progress.
- Working with students and young people, especially those with direct experience of justice involvement, to build the next generation of researchers, advocates, practitioners, and policymakers.