People can change. Systems can change, too.
The Idaho Justice Project is a new, nonpartisan organization that elevates system-involved persons, in partnership with citizens, nonprofits, justice stakeholders, and government officials, to improve Idaho’s justice system using organizing, public education, collaboration, and advocacy.
Idaho has been stuck in a “tough on crime” mentality for decades. This has cost the state billions in incarceration costs, years of time spent in prison by non-violent offenders, and irreparable impact to children who are detained in facilities or missing their parents who aren’t home because they are incarcerated. But it hasn’t made us any safer. Idaho Justice Project envisions a criminal justice system that touches fewer lives and keeps our communities safe while more efficiently using state resources.
Idaho Justice Project will work to create change using three guiding principles:
Reduce: Reduce the size of the justice system, its costs, and the number of people in the system both now and in the future.
Reinvest: Reinvest the funds saved from reducing the size of the system to social services that target mental health and drug addiction services to prevent crime in the first place.
Rehabilitate: Rehabilitate in prison using evidence-based programs and empower returning citizens to succeed with achievable probation and parole requirements.
We believe that when people work together, great things can happen. Please join us on our mission to improve Idaho’s justice system!
Erica Marshall
Executive Director, Idaho Justice Project