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。但共识很难达成，长期以来，“政策谈话”（即如何定义问题和推动解决方案）与“政策行动”（即某些政策的设计和采用）之间存在着区别。在本文中，我们寻求促进有效和可持续的刑事司法改革的富有成效的思考和讨论以及设计。为此，我们对与刑事司法政策讨论和行动相关的基本概念和实践考虑进行反思。