Community Justice and Public Safety: Assessing Criminal Justice Policy Through the Lens of the Social Contract

A reconceptualization of the idea of “community justice” is framed in the logic of the social contract and emphasizes the responsibility of the justice system for the provision of public safety. First, we illustrate the ways in which the criminal justice system has hindered the efforts of community residents to participate in the production of public safety by disrupting informal social networks. Then we turn to an examination of the compositional dynamics of California prison populations over time to demonstrate that the American justice system has failed to meet their obligations to provide public safety by incapacitating dangerous offenders. We argue that these policy failures represent a breach of the social contract and advocate for more effective collaboration between communities and the formal criminal justice system so that all parties can fulfill their obligations under the contract

Which penology for decision making in French prisons?

This article argues that while France's old penology remains well defended due to professional discretion and individualization of professional judgment in high security prisons (maisons centrales), a new penal trend akin to an actuarial justice is observed in detention centres. This trend consists in governing 'at a distance' a mixed population of very different prisoner types. However, a cacophony of voices in the decision-making process, discretion, professional and unions stakes, face-to-face interactions, abilities of inmates to negotiate with staff members as well as disconnections and contradictions between fields of decision making are factors that explain the failure of the new penology in the most secure prisons. These organizational and professional factors are not linked to political conditions such as the welfare state or the new management of poverty as indicated by the authors of the new penology. © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav