Looking Forward, Reflecting Back: The Promise of Dispute Resolution to Reform the Criminal Legal System

The criminal legal system in the United States is plagued by serious and systemic problems. There have been countless efforts at reform over the last many decades that have included changes in what is a crime, how crimes are punished, how prosecutors do their job, and changes in policing. Yet, despite these efforts, problems such as mass incarceration remain deeply embedded. It is easy to be swept up in pessimism when discussing the criminal legal system.

Change is hard, at best incremental, and we seem to be in the beginning of an era of backlash against recent reforms. This is despite the widespread use of dispute resolution processes which are often looked to as processes that can contribute to meaningful change. Why have these processes and reforms had such limited impacts?