Anti-Carceral Futures: A Comparative Perspective of Restorative and Transformative Justice Practices in the United States and New Zealand
The United States and New Zealand, two democratic and progressive nations, rely heavily on incarceration structures plagued with institutional racism as their primary form of justice. Several international standards, most notably the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-Custodial Measures, advocate for more contextinclusive justice systems that focus on the social and economic factors that often lead to crime, rather than the ex-post form of justice that is incarceration. Despite each nation’s passage of restorative justice legislation to divert individuals away from the carceral structure, their incarceration rates remain exorbitant compared to the rest of the world, with recidivism rates remaining consistently high. This Note argues that these international standards are in line with the modern-day transformative justice and prison abolition movements, and that their principles should be at the forefront of the United States and New Zealand’s criminal justice reform. By addressing the root causes of crime and affording individuals the opportunity to engage with expansive restorative justice systems, the United States and New Zealand can lay the foundation for a global anti-carceral future.
Recommended Citation: Hannah Goodman, Anti-Carceral Futures: A Comparative Perspective of Restorative and Transformative Justice Practices in the United States and New Zealand, 44 Fordham Int'l L.J. 1215 (2021).