Last week I attended the 50th anniversary of the Council on Crime and Justice, “Justice, Where Art Thou?” - A Framework for the Future Conference.
The focus of the conference was on the Council’s report about crime and justice from the past fifty years and makes recommendations for changes going forward to impact the justice system that would make a difference on crime and justice in the United States, but in particular Minnesota.
The changes that the report suggests are as follows:
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Educate all of our youth
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Equal Access to Mental and Chemical Health Treatment
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Involve more fathers in raising children
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Eliminate legal barriers to successful re-entry
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Effective Offender rehabilitation and victim restoration
For criminal justice students and professionals, these will be the areas of greatest attention therefore spurring job growth and opportunity.
Malcolm Gladwell, best selling author of The Tipping Point was the key note speaker at the conference. He stated that the criminal justice system has reached its “tipping point” and change must happen.
The shift needs to be made from punishment to rehabilitation. Prisons are overcrowded and most prisoners re-enter society at some point. As Criminal Justice students and professionals, the Council on Crime and Justice is calling on us to pioneer that change and develop ideas and strategies to implement effective change.
What are your ideas?
What would you change about the criminal justice system?