Center for Justice Innovation

Center for Justice Innovation Building community justice in partnership with communities, courts, and the people most impacted.

10/14/2026

Accountability heals communities. 💜

To kick off Domestic Violence Awareness Month, our RISE Project team hosted community members, partners, and survivors at Restoration Plaza in Bed-Stuy to stand united against domestic and intimate partner violence.

Thank you to NYC Mayor's Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, Office of Neighborhood Safety, Neighbors in Action, SOSSouthBronx, Release The Grip, KAVI | Kings Against Violence Initiative, and the many organizations and advocates working every day to support survivors and build safer communities.

The movement continues long after this event. Learn more about RISE Project and the work happening across NYC at the link in our bio. 🔗

Building safer communities and addressing intimate partner violence means creating “meaningful opportunities for those w...
10/08/2026

Building safer communities and addressing intimate partner violence means creating “meaningful opportunities for those who cause harm to examine their behavior, understand its impact, and make safer choices,” writes Gene A. Johnson, associate director of our Supervised Release Program this Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

After seven years and 26,000 classes, a program he leads for participants of the Supervised Release Program is changing its name and workshop curriculum to better reflect its goal of building awareness of how harm occurs in relationships.

During Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we’re reflecting on what we learned and how it shaped this change

🔗 Learn more about the change at the link in our bio.

“Community safety and justice go hand in hand,” Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani says, and that’s why we’re so pleased to long...
10/07/2026

“Community safety and justice go hand in hand,” Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani says, and that’s why we’re so pleased to longtime community justice leader Chris Watler appointed as the new Chair of the Board of Correction, the independent body responsible for overseeing New York City’s jail system, including Rikers island.

Before serving as executive vice president at the Center for Employment Opportunities (Center for Employment Opportunities), Chris was a central part of building sustainable community justice initiatives at the Center for Justice Innovation, including as project director at our Harlem Community Justice Center (Harlem Community Justice Center), and helping to launch both the Red Hook Community Justice Center (Red Hook Community Justice Center) and what is now Neighbors in Action (Neighbors in Action, formerly known as the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center).

Chris’ unwavering commitment to communities, to justice, and to New York City puts him in a unique position to improve conditions for those incarcerated in the city, support the people responsible for their care, and finally close Rikers.

Scroll ➡️ above to see Chris at the renaming of Neighbors in Action, at a Crown Heights event in 2000, and as the project director at Harlem Community Justice Center. Each moment demonstrates his approach to justice — leading with the community, with kindness, and with the future in mind. ⚖️

No more silence, no more violence. 💜This Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we’re rising up with our community.Our RISE ...
10/05/2026

No more silence, no more violence. 💜

This Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we’re rising up with our community.

Our RISE Project team kicked off the month dedicated to fighting domestic and intimate partner violence by supporting survivors with a community event at Restoration Plaza in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.

This work is only possible when done in partnership with partners including NYC Mayor's Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, Office of Neighborhood Safety, Neighbors in Action, SOSSouthBronx, Release The Grip, and so many more.

Learn more about the work our RISE Project does across NYC at the link in our bio. 🔗

10/01/2026

What does thirty years of justice look like? ☝️

The Center for Justice Innovation has a history of firsts. The first community court in the nation. The first drug court. The first domestic violence court. The first violence interruption program in New York City. The first felony alternative-to-incarceration court.

All of these firsts were established with the same goal in mind: To reduce incarceration and help people access fundamental needs, from housing and job training, to mental health support and education.

Many of these trailblazing solutions have been replicated across the country, supported by the research and expert assistance from our teams, weaving progress into the fabric of the justice system to support safe, resilient communities.

In honor of the Center for Justice Innovation’s 30th anniversary, you can explore key milestones and highlights of our remarkable history at the new timeline in our bio. 🔗

09/29/2026

“It allows you to see that you can be more, you can do more.”

The 2026 Inside Literary Prize asked nearly 200 incarcerated people across the country to judge five National Book Foundation finalists and decide which book the world needs to read most.

Hear from those judges about what the Prize and the judging process was like for them.☝️

Five years of community justice resources in Foley Square! ✨Our Manhattan Justice Opportunities team hosted their fifth ...
09/25/2026

Five years of community justice resources in Foley Square! ✨

Our Manhattan Justice Opportunities team hosted their fifth annual resource fair in Manhattan this week, alongside our teams from Midtown Community Justice Center and Harlem Community Justice Center.

The community came through for free food, music, education and employment resources, and connections to substance use and mental health programs with partners including The Legal Aid Society, CASES, Animal Haven, Housing Works, stuff4good, and more!

Thanks to all of our team members and partners for bringing community justice to Manhattan!

What if we built interventions into the justice system to connect people to stable housing and other resources?Homelessn...
09/22/2026

What if we built interventions into the justice system to connect people to stable housing and other resources?

Homelessness and the justice system have long been interconnected. People who are homeless are much more likely to be arrested, and they face worse outcomes in the justice system. And, once someone is arrested, they become 10X more likely to experience homelessness.

Despite this cycle, housing is rarely discussed in criminal courts and other touchpoints of the justice system.

Join us on Wednesday, October 14 to learn about how criminal courts, reentry programs, and jails can partner with housing organizations to address the needs of people coming through their doors.

Leaders across the country who participated in the Center’s Housing Justice Peer Network will share details and lessons from their programs.

📆 October 14, 3pm EST

📍Zoom: Register at the link in our bio.

09/18/2026

There’s nothing more powerful than words.

That’s why, in early 2026, the third annual Inside Literary Prize asked nearly 200 incarcerated people across the country to judge five National Book Foundation finalists and decide which book the world needs to read most.

Hear from those judges about what the Prize, along with the power of literature itself, means to them.☝️

Here are four common misconceptions about restorative justice and why they miss the mark. ⬆️Restorative justice offers a...
09/16/2026

Here are four common misconceptions about restorative justice and why they miss the mark. ⬆️

Restorative justice offers a powerful alternative after harm occurs. In courts, schools, and communities, restorative justice responds to conflict and harm by inviting people to speak openly about what happened and find a path forward together.

It also looks beyond each individual incident, focusing on the systems that led to what happened.

But like any important reform, there are some longstanding myths about restorative justice.

What’s one more myth you would add to debunk?

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