Reforming Americas Criminal Justice System
One of the biggest wastes of taxpayer dollars in our society today can be found in a criminal justice system in serious need in reform. As mayor of Newark, I have watched as my police arrest, re-arrest, and then re-arrest again, sending the same person for another trip through a revolving door system that not only largely fails to rehabilitate, but too often makes reoffending commonplace and most definitely is not helping to make our communities safer. The many problems in the criminal justice system have not defeated our efforts in Newark — while there is much work left to do, since my Administration began its work with the Newark community, murders are down 17 percent, shootings are down 27 percent, rapes are down 38 percent, aggravated assaults are down 12 percent, thefts are down 11 percent, and auto thefts are down 26 percent. But that progress has been won with the wind in our face and does not account for the thousands of lives negatively impacted by backward policies in our criminal justice system.

It is clear from what we have seen in Newark, and in cities across the country, that we can do better. That we can create a system that makes our communities safer and spends significantly fewer taxpayer dollars to deliver that safety; A system that does not waste the potential and productivity of so many of our citizens and better reflects our values, treating every American justly; A system that brings together communities and law enforcement and that restores the strength of families, stopping, rather than perpetuating, the intergenerational cycle of incarceration.

That is not happening now. We waste massive amounts of money on strategies that make our communities less, not more, safe. We squander human potential. We emphasize punishment over rehabilitation for low-level, non-violent crimes. We have created a system that fosters disparate racial and socio-economic impacts. Even more disturbing are the impacts on inmates’ children. Not only do they lose their incarcerated parent’s income and other direct support, but innocent children who have one or both of their parents in prison also suffer trauma, social stigma, and destruction of their familial relationships. In fact, a national, longitudinal study of approximately 5,000 children born between 1998 and 2000 found that children whose fathers were incarcerated were four times more likely to face contact with the child welfare system.1

And we have done better, but there is so much common sense progress remaining to be claimed. Driving reform here in Newark has been a broad-based coalition, including, for example, the Manhattan Institute,a conservative think tank. We worked across the aisle because this issue is not a left or right problem. It’s a common sense problem. It’s a basic question of continuing to fail, or moving forward. It’s a question of making our communities safer, or continuing to waste law enforcement resources and taxpayer dollars.

Our cities and towns cannot do this alone. The federal government must reform the system where it controls it and do more to support innovation at the state and local level.

If we all come together to banish stigma and myth, and instead focus on fact and outcomes, we will do better. The result will be safer communities, savings for taxpayers, stronger children and families, and a criminal justice system that reflects American values.