How would a human rights approach help rethink and reset our criminal justice system? Alex Firth, Research and Communications Officer for Just Fair, which campaigns to make economic, social and cultural rights a part of UK domestic law, explores how creating a robust rights-based safety net could help address the root causes of crime and benefit society as a whole.

Tackling the roots of crisis and crime – a human rights response - Alex Firth

https://revolving-doors.org.uk/tackling-the-roots-of-crisis-and-crime-a-human-rights-response/

No matter what we look like or where we come from, most of us have known the pain of seeing loved ones struggle—friends who have dealt with substance use, children who have
made rebellious choices, neighbors in over their heads trying to make ends meet. We also share some basic desires: that our communities would be places where people can overcome their struggles and be treated as equals. Where we are free to care for our families, find success, and be recognized for our best moments—not just our worst.

But for too long, we’ve allowed police and prison lobbyists to convince our leaders that separating people from their families through endless punishment is somehow a path to
safety: an estimated 8 million Americans have been to prison, over 70 million (20% of the population) are living with a criminal record, and nearly half of American families are impacted by American prisons and jails. Contrary to the claims of certain politicians, these policies have actually made us less safe.

The truth is, we know what keeps us safe. Research demonstrates that 3 key factors are particularly important for lowering crime and increasing safety:
1) steady income, whether
through employment or public benefits;
2) access to safe, stable housing; and
3) access to care and services. These are the factors that promote well-being, success, and empowerment
for individuals, families, and communities—all while reducing crime. If we want to imagine a
world where people are given a chance to address harm and heal, we must invest in the things that foster success and equal justice

https://sentencing.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/sentencingnvgov/content/Meetings/2022/08.24.22%20NSC%20Mtg.%20Agenda%20Item%208%20PFJ%20What%20Really%20Lowers%20Crime.pdf

JUSTICE REINVESTMENT

KEY TO REDUCING INDIGENOUS INCARCERATION - Tom Calma

Crime rates are dropping, but rates of imprisonment – particularly of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people – are sky-rocketing. A new approach is needed.

The Australian Law Reform Commission’s Pathways to Justice report tabled in April is the most recent in a long line to address the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in prison, and not the first to point to justice reinvestment as a solution.

The ongoing and increasing expenditure of public resources on imprisonment for low-level offenders is a bad investment in social, health and economic terms. Returning low-level offenders from prison to socially and economically disadvantaged communities where there is inadequate housing, low levels of participation in schooling, few training or employment opportunities and limited or no drug and alcohol rehabilitation services doesn’t make sense. We are setting people – and communities – up to fail.

What does make sense is reprioritising where our money is spent. It needs to be moved away from building new prisons and into early intervention and crime prevention programs to reduce the number of people being locked up in the first place.

https://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/PrecedentAULA/2018/41.html

Justice Reinvestment - spending money on people, instead of weapons for cops

Australia: It’s time to fund justice that works - Amnesty International

Justice reinvestment is led by the community, for the community. Instead of failed punitive approaches, justice reinvestment is evidence-based. It embraces therapeutic and rehabilitative methods like diversion programs that address the underlying causes of problematic behaviour in children, in order to improve it - diverting them away from the criminal justice system.

https://action.amnesty.org.au/act-now/australia-fund-justice-reinvestment

Understanding the intricate relationship between poverty and crime is necessary to develop effective solutions. Solving the root causes of poverty would create conducive environments, significantly reducing crime rates and improving the quality of life for all people.

The Relationship Between Poverty and Crime - Lisa Myers

https://www.northwestcareercollege.edu/blog/the-relationship-between-poverty-and-crime/

..public welfare and education spending can potentially lower violent and property crime rates but law enforcement spending can only deter property crime. However, correctional spending can exacerbate both types of crimes... This results in the policy implication that more resources be allocated towards welfare and education programs.

Crime, correction, education and welfare in the U.S. – What role does the government play?
Devika Hazra, Jose Aranzazu

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0161893822000163

Paper suggests that welfare spending contributed to reduce total crime.

Does poverty relief spending reduce crime? Evidence from Argentina
Osvaldo Meloni

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0144818814000416#preview-section-abstract

When you give poor people money, they spend it on making their lives better.

...Setting aside moral arguments, malnourished children have lower schooling attainment and lower earnings throughout their lives. A World Bank review found grants improve growth and cognitive development and later outcomes in small children. It is harder to find a smarter investment.

https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/science-blog/evidence-behind-putting-money-directly-pockets-poor

The idea of defunding, or divestment, is new to some folks, but the basic premise is simple: We must cut the astronomical amount of money that our governments spend on law enforcement and give that money to more helpful services like job training, counseling, and violence-prevention programs. Each year, state and local governments spend upward of $100 billion dollars on law enforcement—and that’s excluding billions more in federal grants and resources.

...Funneling so many resources into law enforcement instead of education, affordable housing, and accessible health care has caused significant harm to communities.

...We have little evidence, if any, to show that more police surveillance results in fewer crimes and greater public safety. Indeed, funneling police into communities of color and pushing officers to make arrests just perpetuates harm and trauma.

...For too long, the focus on police reform has been dominated by reforms that try to reduce the harms of policing rather than rethink the overall role of police in society. But six years after the Black Lives Matter movement rose to national attention, activists across the country are coming together to demand what many have known has been the solution all along: defund the police.

https://www.aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/defunding-the-police-will-actually-make-us-safer

“The best crime prevention is increased opportunity and reduced poverty. That’s the best way to reduce crime. So there needs to be substantial funding into the infrastructure of our inner cities and our more deprived areas.

“Why do people get involved in crime and serious crime? It’s because the opportunities to make money elsewhere aren’t there for them. And never more so than in our inner cities and in our more difficult to police areas.

“We need to reduce that deprivation and the scale of deprivation that we see in some of our communities, because if you give people a viable alternative, not all but a lot will take it.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/apr/18/tackle-poverty-and-inequality-to-reduce-says-police-chief