Marc A. Levin and Khalil Cumberbatch: Common ground in Pa. on criminal justice

Polarized politics have led many Pennsylvanians to dark places, but could a common vision of justice for all illuminate the path to unity? A beacon of hope is a new declaration of principles endorsed by many of the nation’s most respected conservative and liberal groups. It encapsulates our shared aspirations for a criminal justice system that lives up to the most cherished values shared by Pennsylvanians and all Americans.

This initiative was a shot in the dark. After all, few people could have predicted that organizations as ideologically divergent as the Conservative Political Action Conference and American Legislative Exchange Council on the right and the American Civil Liberties Union and the Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights on the left could agree on more than the time of day.

Yet they did. Though a series of discussions facilitated by the Council on Criminal Justice and the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, and sponsored by The Just Trust, 14 organizations on the left and right arrived at a consensus on the values that should guide criminal justice policy not only as the legislative session gets underway in Harrisburg but in capitols across the nation and at all levels of government.

So, what tenets did this unlikely consortium of groups unite around and what are the implications? The declaration outlines and defines four core values that Americans of all stripes agree should animate our justice system: safety, fairness, dignity and accountability.

Skeptics might dismiss these words as mere pabulum. However, the declaration offers an enlightening glimpse into the consensus reached on how these values apply to the criminal justice system and it reconciles the yin and yang that the conservative and liberal ideological impulses bring to these values. For example, the declaration insists that individuals must be held accountable for their actions, even as it recognizes the role of a person’s family, school and community in influencing their life’s trajectory. Furthermore, the principles maintain that society and our justice system must be held responsible for fostering genuine opportunities for redemption and reintegration.

Likewise, the document acknowledges that fairness involves two elements, one often more associated with the right and the other with the left. On an individual level, it requires ensuring that there is due process and a proportional sanction in each case. On the societal level, it means a system that achieves results that don’t vary based on who someone knows, the color of their skin, their political views, or whether they can afford a good lawyer. The imperative to ensure safety and justice for all Americans begins well before a criminal case is filed, requiring us to ensure every community has the law enforcement, educational, and social service resources needed to thrive.

Yet arguably even more significant than the content of the declaration is that each of these groups with vast constituencies took the reputational risk inherent in working with the “other side” at a time when the left and right are often at each other’s throats.

As a result, we have not just a statement that is notably and intentionally free of loaded buzzwords, but a chance to rediscover the essential truth that achieving justice and safety is not an ideological zero-sum game. Here’s why. Liberal Americans don’t benefit when a serial batterer is released on bail only to again commit another act of intimate partner violence. Likewise, conservative Americans don’t benefit when an innocent person is convicted because of faulty forensics or prosecutorial misconduct.

Ultimately, history demonstrates the indispensability of a shared commitment to the values that should guide our justice system. An agreement on these goals and confidence that the system is working towards them on everyone’s behalf is vital to fostering public trust in the system, without which the rule of law cannot function.

Whether on the right or left, we know that either vigilantism or authoritarianism can rise when the rule of law collapses. By adhering to the declaration’s values, the justice system can help us avoid this fate by earning the trust of all Americans. The justice system in Pennsylvania and throughout the nation can accomplish this by better aligning with the declarations’ values of safety, fairness, dignity, and accountability.

Fortunately, leaders from both parties in Pennsylvania continue to push forward in finding common ground on criminal justice, including through the work of the bipartisan Criminal Justice Reform Caucus and bipartisan proposals in the current legislative session to incorporate EMS data into the state’s opioid overdose dashboard, ensure timely law enforcement notification of murder victims’ families, and provide relief to youth who are victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, including immunity from prosecution for prostitution and obstructing a roadway.

While the organizations behind this statement have not come together to endorse specific legislation, they have set an example for lawmakers seeking to work across the aisle. Like these groups, policymakers can bridge the ideological divide to reach consensus on a roadmap for the kind of justice system worthy of our founding ideals and better angels. Pennsylvania’s own Benjamin Franklin warned that we have a republic if we can keep it, and this declaration and all of us that have berthed it are sending a clarion signal into the darkness; we are playing for keeps.

Marc Levin and Khalil Cumberbatch co-lead the Centering Justice Initiative at the Council on Criminal Justice, where Levin is chief policy counsel and Cumberbatch is director of engagement and partnerships.