Justice Policy Institute
August, 2016
“While the national conversation and policy reforms have focused on reducing the incarceration of people convicted of nonviolent offenses, just under half the people in prison have been convicted of a violent crime.
In Defining Violence, JPI says it’s impossible the U.S. will be able to lower its incarceration rate significantly without changing how the justice system treats violent crimes.
Defining Violence surveys the current debate in state legislatures and Congress on criminal justice reform, noting where justice reform proposals have been mired down in debates over what constitutes a violent crime, how justice systems treat violent crimes, and how these debates have made it challenging to making lasting justice reform possible.”
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