A Pragmatic Alternative to the Current U.S. Justice System
Toward Comprehensive & Thoughtful Transformation of Justice Policy
US Annual Justice Costs
The US criminal justice system cost ~1.1 Trillion dollars (6% of GOP)
It is typically reported that mass incarceration costs the U.S. around $84 billion dollars per year.
In truth, when all factors are accounted for, the amount was closer to 1.1 Trillion dollars (6% of GDP) a year as of 2016 (The Economic Burden of Incarceration in the U.S. Mclaughlin, 2016).
The vast majority of these expenditures fall on the shoulders of the families and communities of the incarcerated. Beyond these there are numerous other expenses to be considered adjacent to the various societal problems law enforcement gets involved in. We spend inordinate sums of money on security systems, armed guards, weapons, both legal and illegal for self-protection, and insuring property and paying for its replacement or repair in relation to theft or destructive acts. In this same vein, we are sacrificing more and more liberties to our fears of crimes in spite of their overall decline....read more
Positive Cooperative Justice
PCJ is a model which promises both to be more effective than the criminal justice system at addressing our societal and interpersonal ills and significantly less expensive from the outset.
Positive Cooperative Justice is:
Positive
Cooperative
Cooperative
- seeks positive outcomes
- aims to address strife while inflicting as little harm as possible
- requires evidence to support ideas
- like positive psychology, it posits healthy, happy minds do less harm than unhealthy, unhappy ones
Cooperative
Cooperative
Cooperative
- all involved are given consideration, offered inclusion, and encouraged to participate
- facilities and apparatus are owned by the communities they serve and the people they employ and house
- economic benefits of their operation will be felt by those communities and those who have been harmed
Just
Cooperative
Just
- restores balance
- supports fairness, integrity, and consideration