Mission and Vision

Mission

Justice Not Prisons (JNP) is committed to ending the massive overuse of incarceration in the United States. JNP seeks to shrink the criminal justice system while re-building devastated communities and preventing violence. We propose and support productive responses to crime, with a focus on the issue of discretionary sentencing. We provide information and resources for advocates, and potential advocates, to take action, particularly through local court watch advocacy projects. Through these projects, JNP aims to document the pervasiveness of excessive sentencing and its sources, as a means to foster action for more responsible sentencing.


Vision

Justice Not Prisons imagines a future in which we are no longer addicted to incarceration as a presumptive reaction to crime, a future in which courts craft more responsible sentences by listening to community concerns and commitments. It seeks to close all unnecessary prisons in favor of more appropriate and effective responses to crime.