How can we improve the effectiveness of criminal justice reform efforts? Effective reform hinges on shared understandings of what the problem is and shared visions of what success looks like. But consensus is hard to come by, and there has long been a distinction between “policy talk” or how problems are defined and solutions are promoted, and “policy action” or the design and adoption of certain policies. In this essay, we seek to promote productive thinking and talking about, as well as designing of, effective and sustainable criminal justice reforms. To this end, we offer reflections on underlying conceptual and practical considerations relevant for both criminal justice policy talk and action.

我们如何提高刑事司法改革工作的有效性？有效的改革取决于对问题所在的共同理解以及对成功的共同愿景。但很难达成共识，长期以来，“政策谈话”或如何界定问题和推动解决方案与“政策行动”或某些政策的设计和采用之间存在区别。在这篇文章中，我们寻求促进富有成效的思考和讨论，以及设计有效和可持续的刑事司法改革。为此，我们对与刑事司法政策谈话和行动相关的基本概念和实践考虑进行了反思。