1. Les Miz debuted in 1980, just as mass incarceration took off. It warned us, we didn’t listen. Its lyrics are a syllabus on CJ reform:

2. Importance of family visits on re-entry ( http://daneshyari.com/article/preview/882610.pdf), social strain of incarceration on families ( https://www.russellsage.org/sites/all/files/u4/Western_Incarceration,%20Marriage,%20%26%20Family%20Life_0.pdf).

3. The challenge posed by durable parole conditions, the number of which are growing: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047235210000875

4. The ability of prosecutors to read expansive codes to punish behavior that’s not really criminal: https://twitter.com/JohnFPfaff/status/928681893360529414

5. The impact of harsh prison conditions on prisoner re-entry and re-integration: http://orientation.uchicagolawandecon.org/readings/Do%20Harsher%20Prison%20Conditions.pdf

6. The impact of incarceration on future income: https://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~gwallace/Papers/Western%20(2002).pdf

7. Leveling down: if honest ppl don’t get it, neither do parolees (rather than leveling up). Like w Pell Grants: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-power-of-pell-grants-for-prisoners

8. The permanent cost of long-lasting parole conditions, “felon” as permanent stigma: http://sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/A-Lifetime-of-Punishment.pdf, http://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/felony-disenfranchisement-laws-in-the-united-states/

9. Denial of basic resources to formerly incarcerated, esp housing, and stress it causes: http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/AG-2017/2017AG_Ch06-S06_Housing-Access-Criminal-Records.pdf, https://qz.com/869499/new-evidence-says-us-sex-offender-policies-dont-work-and-are-are-actually-causing-more-crime/

10. The failure of prison programming to adequately rehabilitate or train (esp compared to non-prison options): http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0032885511415224?journalCode=tpjd

11. The failure of punitive policies, whether true eye-for-eye ( https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John_Donohue2/publication/277933723_Empirical_Evaluation_of_Law_The_Dream_and_the_Nightmare/links/560618dd08ae8e08c08d0793.pdf), or more broadly ( https://press.princeton.edu/titles/9018.html).

12. Seeming pro-social promise of restorative justice: http://www.restorativejusticescotland.org.uk/RJ_and_the_Reduction_of_Reoffending_FINAL.pdf, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/sep/17/restorative-justice-young-offenders-crime, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0093854816640835?journalCode=cjbb

13. CJ system’s inability to address age-based desistance, offending trajectories: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/de37/09982954153953ed685fa6db674898170f3c.pdf, but see: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5603283/

14. The core tension: Javert (justice) is incompatible with Valjean (mercy). It needn’t be, be is so often seen to be so.

15. Javert’s final words also reflect challenge many CJ actors have w less punitive reforms, like police in Philly: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/city/philly-police-larry-krasner-district-attorney-civil-rights-20171110.html

16. My generation grew up cheering on Valjean while our parents—and then us—implemented the policies of Javert. And still do.

(17. Brilliant idea that we are nation of Javerts that styles itself country of Valjeans is not mine, but can’t find who to properly cite.)