Where serious science has a serious impact

 

Now is the time for us to make new conscious and informed choices concerning the definition of public safety, community vitality, and the right of every citizen to have a voice in this process.  

We envision a future where science and scholarship provide the foundation for justice systems transformation, where people and communities feel and experience equity, respect, and trust in justice system interactions.

The Justice Collaboratory (The JC) is a membership-based social science research center at Yale Law School that brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars and researchers at Yale and beyond to cooperatively work toward a theory-driven, evidence-informed justice system. Our work is centered around the criminal legal system, but is more broadly concerned with the goal of building vibrant communities. We believe that in the long-term addressing issues of social order requires community engagement and centeredness.

Meet Our Scholars

Comprised of members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, MacArthur “Geniuses”, Pulitzer and Audacious Prize winners, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, our interdisciplinary network brings together some of the nation’s most renowned scholars dedicated to transforming historically underserved communities to ones of vitality, opportunity, and justice for all citizens. Their research addresses issues at the intersection of race, community vitality, and criminal legal reform.

We view collaboration as fundamental to our work.

 Featured Justice Collaboratory Projects

Featured
Elevating Trust and Legitimacy for Prosecutors Project
Elevating Trust and Legitimacy for Prosecutors Project

Yale Law School’s Justice Collaboratory has partnered with the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys and LaGratta Consulting to develop the Elevating Trust and Legitimacy for Prosecutors Project. Through a multi-phase site selection process, project partners chose the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office, Saint Paul City Attorney’s Office and Columbus City Attorney’s Office as the project pilot sites to engage in a year-long collaborative assessment, planning, and implementation process of procedural justice practices.

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Policing, Law, and Policy Clinic at Yale Law School
Policing, Law, and Policy Clinic at Yale Law School

The Policing, Law, and Policy Clinic offers current Yale Law School students the opportunity to translate cutting-edge empirical research on policing reform into real-world policies

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How do Communities Respond to Gun Violence Prevention Policies?
How do Communities Respond to Gun Violence Prevention Policies?

This project involves a qualitative evaluation of gun violence prevention services in New Haven, utilizing a community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) model. Its goal is to explore: (1) How do individuals and communities impacted by gun violence understand its underlying causes and experience its effects? (2) How do individuals and communities experience gun violence prevention work?

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Learn More

Learn about our work from our Executive Director, Caroline Nobo, Policing, Law, and Policy Director, Jorge Camacho, and co-founding directors Tracey Meares and Tom Tyler.

JC in the News

Featured
The Fear Factor: Better Understanding Online Discussions About Crime and Safety

Tech Policy Press | The JC writes a blog for Tech Policy about trying to better understand how people discuss crime on Nextdoor.

Caroline Nobo on LoveBabz Lovetalk

New Haven Independent Radio | Justice Collaboratory Executive Director Caroline Nobo is interviewed by New Haven Independent radio host Babz Rawls-Ivy.

Opinion: ‘Know why I pulled you over?’ Fortunately, California police can’t ask you that anymore

LA Times | JC postbac Michael Bochkur-Dratver writes an op-ed for the LA Times about California Assembly Bill 2773 and how it could better improve relations between police and the public.

 

JC on TikTok

“Public safety is dependent on strong, vibrant communities. Our nation’s individual and collective wellbeing—from access to health care and clean water to access to education and jobs—is the foundation of a more just society with less reliance on criminal legal intervention.”

— Tracey Meares, co-founder of The Justice Collaboratory and Walton Hale Professor of Law, Yale Law School