The Open Philanthropy Project awarded a grant of $200,000 to the Vera Institute of Justice to support Common Justice.
Common Justice, a Brooklyn-based project of the Vera Institute, develops and promotes solutions to violent crime that focus on improving outcomes for victims and holding people accountable for harm without relying on incarceration. Locally, Common Justice operates the first alternative-to-incarceration and victim service program in the United States that focuses on violent felonies in the adult courts, using a restorative justice approach. Nationally, Common Justice applies lessons from its direct service to inform discussions about how to transform the justice system.
We see both Common Justice and its director, Danielle Sered, as important voices in the broader national conversation around violent crime policy.
To support a planned expansion of its activities, Common Justice needs more space and staff. By supporting this expansion, we hope to allow Common Justice to 1) increase outreach and promotion of its ideas, and 2) scale up its intervention program so that its effectiveness can be studied more robustly.