On November 9, SJP proudly co-sponsored a special pre-screening of Crime and Punishment in America, a four-part documentary series exploring the history of the U.S. criminal legal system from the colonial era to the present. Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy hosted the event. Ahead of its premiere, attendees watched selected clips from the series, which looks at the American criminal legal system from the origins of prisons and policing to our ongoing fascination with crime. The series also wrestles with the purpose of punishment and the meaning of “justice” through interviews with advocates, formerly incarcerated individuals, victims, and former corrections officers. Why do we punish? What are we trying to do and what do we actually do?
After the screening, Director Lynn Novick joined a panel with former DC Attorney General Karl Racine; Robert Barton, Executive Director of More Than Our Crimes; and Vincent Schiraldi, former head of corrections, probation and youth-service agencies in New York City, DC, and Maryland. The panelists discussed the costs of the criminal legal system and the lasting tension between vengeance and healing, and between justice and redemption. Racine made a specific call to action for DC: “We need to stop doing stuff that doesn’t work. Violence intervention, credible messengers work.”
