Rethinking the Boundaries of "Criminal Justice"

Authors

Benjamin Levin, University of Colorado Law SchoolFollow

Document Type

Book Review

Publication

Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law

Year

2018

Citation Information

Benjamin Levin, Rethinking the Boundaries of "Criminal Justice," 15 Ohio St. J. Crim. L. 619 (2018) (reviewing The New Criminal Justice Thinking (Sharon Dolovich & Alexandra Natapoff eds., 2017)), available at https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/articles/1176/.

Abstract

This review of The New Criminal Justice Thinking (Sharon Dolovich & Alexandra Natapoff, eds.) tracks the shifting and uncertain contours of “criminal justice” as an object of study and critique.

Specifically, I trace two themes in the book:

(1) the uncertain boundaries of the “criminal justice system” as a web of laws, actors, and institutions; and

(2) the uncertain boundaries of “criminal justice thinking” as a universe of interdisciplinary scholarship, policy discourse, and public engagement.

I argue that these two themes speak to critically important questions about the nature of criminal justice scholarship and reform efforts. Without a firm understanding of what constitutes the “criminal justice system,” it is difficult to agree on the proper targets of critique or to determine what legal, social, and political problems are properly the province of “criminal justice thinking.” And, deciding which voices to accept and privilege in these discussions in turn shapes the face of the reform movement and the types of proposals and critiques that are treated as legitimate.

Comments

"Originally published in the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law."

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