The Justice Management Institute (JMI), a nonprofit organization based in Arlington, VA, provides cutting edge research, education and training programs, and technical assistance in justice policy, planning, and operations. JMI is known for innovative approaches and solutions for advancing knowledge and practice in the administration of justice. In essence, JMI’s work focuses on doing the right thing as well as how to do things right.
JMI’s vision is to work collaboratively with justice professionals to shape systems that are responsive, outcome-driven, fairer, more equitable, and more efficient.
JMI’s mission is to help courts and other justice system agencies achieve excellence in leadership, operations, management, and services by conducting rigorous research on emerging and persistent issues, providing education and training on evidence-based practices, and delivering in-depth technical assistance to help courts and justice systems implement effective strategies.
JMI’s work is guided by three principles: think, inspire, change.
JMI thinks about emerging and pressing issues by conducting original research and evaluation designed to both understand the nature of the problems facing justice systems and practitioners as well as test the effectiveness of various approaches to responding to these issues. It has conducted large-scale justice system assessments that involve understanding the drivers of inefficiencies in the courts, prosecution, and defense in more than 12 jurisdictions in the past three years alone. Over its twenty-year history, JMI has also conducted a number of issue-specific research studies at the national, state, and local level. Among those that have been undertaken in the past couple of years are a series of projects aimed at identifying evidence-based practices as solutions to problems in the criminal justice system.
JMI inspires justice practitioners and policymakers through their education and training programs. Whether delivered to five or 500 people, JMI’s training and educational programs are dynamic and skill-based, designed not only to help justice professionals understand what works in the administration of justice but also help them see the possibility for adoption in their own courts and local justice systems. Their educational programs, such as the Smarter Sentencing to Reduce Recidivism, apply state-of-the-art research to the practical day-to-day operations of the justice system. Other training is designed to help practitioners improve their overall competencies and effectiveness in managing the work of the justice system.
Finally, JMI helps bring change to the administration of justice by providing onsite and web-based specialized services to help local justice systems, and individual stakeholders within the systems, design and implement different approaches to improve their overall effectiveness. They work in partnership with justice stakeholders to define their needs through assessment and data analysis. They engage justice systems in reviewing their processes to identify inefficiencies, redundancies, or challenges to be addressed. They connect practitioners with best practices in the administration of justice.
Whether it is a review of the entire criminal justice system process to identify drivers of the jail population, the design of a new case management system for a court’s juvenile court division, or facilitation of meetings to identify goals, objectives, and performance measures, JMI delivers the results of their interviews, observations, or analyses along with clear and practical recommendations for how the jurisdiction can proceed. Their technical assistance is also designed to be holistic, helping jurisdictions identify issues and strategies for resolving them, as well as then working with the justice system stakeholders to implement new policies and practices.