About us
OPEN JUSTICE is a collaborative think tank of individuals with direct experience of the Criminal Justice System (CJS).
The group includes representation from academics, those with lived experience as either workers within the CJS or as recipients of CJS practices and interventions and also representatives of both the wider public (e.g. healthcare) and private (e.g. business) sectors.
We are committed to using our varied experiences within the CJS and analysis of the evidence to develop a critique of a system that urgently needs radical reform.
Our services
As well as research and writing published on this site, we deliver consultation and workshops to stakeholders, education providers, and those affected by the CJS. Services include:
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Advisory work targeted at developing solutions for the CJS.
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Primary and secondary research services to improve CJS outcomes.
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Experience- and evidence-led resource packs for training purposes.
For further information, write to us at contact@openjusticeinitiative.com
Our team
What is the point? This is the simple question which has brought us together. The Criminal Justice System is central to the ‘Social Contract’ between citizens and State. The State undertakes to protect us as individuals and collectively. In return, we agree to abide by the rules the State imposes. But what if the State has broken the contract?
There is overwhelming evidence that prisons create substantial suffering and not only fail to reduce crime but actually increase the risk of recidivism. In the White Paper to which we responded in our first publication, the Government made it clear that it has little intention of addressing the problems and fixing the contract, or even of evaluating the causes of failure. What then is the point of prisons? How can we reimagine justice?
Maria Leitner
I am a career researcher, with a 40-year track record of conducting research primarily in the fields of criminality, violence and suicidal behaviour. It would be hard to overlook the irony that on the day I was sent to prison I was trying to complete a project focussed on reducing the unacceptably high levels of death and injury attributable to imprisonment. It seems fair to say that I have an unusually ‘rounded’ experience of what the Criminal Justice System achieves. The very distinct roles and relationships I have held with the CJS over time all point to the same conclusion. The System as it stands is banal, dysfunctional and fundamentally illogical. This needs to change.
Karine Solloway
In my past life, I was a successful business woman with every expectation of a happy future. Like most of us, I thought at that time that prison was an effective and valuable service keeping myself and my neighbourhood safe. That was until I found myself in a prison cell, coming face to face with the skeletons that Society chooses to hide in its cupboards. Now that I am free, it would be an utter waste if I did not use my time in custody to share with you the reality of the Prison System as I experienced it. Which aspects worked and which were simply damaging. Prisons are an integral part of our community – and they need healing. Urgently!
Hal Coase
I am a writer and researcher currently completing a Ph.D on the theme of ‘Silence’ in contemporary literature. My work as a facilitator for Women In Prison was an opportunity to listen to the many women silenced by the Prison System. My perspectives on writing, community, and responsibility were permanently transformed by this process. I believe that Open Justice has the potential to transform other perspectives, both within and outside the Criminal Justice System.
The Silenced
Open Justice is informed by the experiences, insight and expertise of those who remain imprisoned. These are the silenced, whose voices are rarely heard and at times legally suppressed within the current system. Choosing to ignore the valuable insights which they can provide is a significant missed opportunity. It is not only prisoners who are silenced. Many working within the Criminal Justice System choose to mute their own voice and withhold their insights. This is equally damaging. Open Justice aims to provide a platform for all of these unheard voices.