Mission

The Criminal Justice Roundtable supports a criminal justice system that will result in a reduction in the rate of incarceration that has increased over the past several decades, while minimizing crime and maximizing the safety of our communities.

• a criminal justice system that is just, effective, equitable, and transparent, and that fosters public trust at all stages including policing policies, pre-trial procedures, sentencing, incarceration, and re-entry;
• the elimination of any incentives for financial profit as a part of the system;
• the elimination of systemic bias, including the disproportionate policing and incarceration of marginalized communities;
• policing practices that promote safety for both law enforcement officers and the communities they serve;
• methods of deterrence alternative to arrest (such as citations) and especially to incarceration;
• collaboration between government and community throughout every stage of the criminal justice system;
• a focus on humane treatment and rehabilitation of those who are incarcerated, with the goal of promoting their successful re-entry into communities when possible;
• reliance on evidence-based research in decision-making about law enforcement programs and policies (including scheduled, periodic audits of programs and policy effectiveness).

(Thanks to the state League of Women Voters of California, upon whose policies this position is based.)

For the remainder of 2024, we will pause our work on our 2023-24 goal #1 to educate the public about criminal justice issues, but we plan to continue working on the second and third goals. Since 2024 is an election year, we will focus on partnering with Forward Justice to register previously incarcerated people. Forward Justice has the list of people who have met the requirements of their sentencing and are now eligible to vote. We can join with Forward Justice’s Campaign, which is to register the 25,000 North Carolinians who were previously incarcerated and are eligible to vote. For instance, there are 1700 in Guilford County alone.
At the same time, we will continue to study and work with local law enforcement and others on policing policies that are unjust and create racial disparity. Likewise, we will continue to support our partners in lobbying efforts on issues of criminal justice (e.g., nonpartisan death penalty work in NC, driver’s license reinstatement after revocation for non-payment of fees, and restricting mugshot commercialization).

Racially Charged: America’s Misdemeanor Problem (35:53)
“America’s Misdemeanor Problem exposes how our country’s history of racial injustice evolved into an enormous abuse of criminal justice power.  13 million people a year – most of them poor and people of color – are abused by this system.

Through first-person accounts of those charged under the Black Codes of the Reconstruction era paralleled with the outrageous stories of people trapped in the system today, the film brings to light the unfolding of a powerful engine of profits and racial inequality. With the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement, this film provides historical context and examines America’s history of racist oppression.”