When a justice on the Missouri Supreme Court congratulates the director of the Missouri Department of Corrections for a successful partnership, black folks can be expected to cringe. We have learned to anticipate the worst from the criminal justice system.
However, there is much to praise in the partnership that Justice Mike Wolff celebrated with Larry Crawford, director of the Missouri Department of Corrections, last week at a conference in St. Louis dedicated to the Missouri Reentry Process. They were celebrating something that is not very sexy, but is absolutely essential to justice, and that is the consistent, transparent gathering and use of data.
Wolff was joined by several outside observers to praise the Missouri Department of Corrections, under Crawford’s watch, in its scrupulous collection and analysis of data, toward an important end: to understand what sentences best punish a crime, and what programs are most important to keeping an offender out of prison once he is returned to the community.
Wolff also challenged Crawford to share more and more data with the Missouri court system. In words that must be celebrated by every African American, given the disparities we routinely face in the administration of justice, Wolff said, “I want to get away from discretionary sentencing and toward evidence-based sentencing.”
Here in St. Louis, a progressive has much to bemoan and oppose. But we have some surprising and encouraging success stories – in the very sensitive matter of criminal justice – that deserve discussion and celebration. The Missouri Supreme Court, Missouri Department of Corrections and Eastern District U.S. Probation Office in St. Louis (under the leadership of Chief Probation Officer Douglas W. Burris) all have emerged as national leaders in administering justice fairly in a manner that puts the interest of genuine public safety ahead of the urge to punish for punishment’s sake.
A series of regional and national experts at the Missouri Reentry Process conference emphasized that the rest of the nation has learned to look to Missouri (and Oregon) for best practices in community-based corrections. Missouri is responsible for important innovations in analyzing data and implementing job-training and drug-treatment programs that have been proven to make an offender dramatically less likely to commit another crime – and create another victim – once released from custody.
Crawford, a Republican appointed by Gov. Matt Blunt, deserves praise for maintaining and pushing forward a vision for the department implemented by his Democratic predecessor, Gary Kempker. At the conference, Kempker recalled how he had educated Crawford in the need to reform the Department of Corrections when Crawford was a Republican state legislator. Kempker, Crawford and the entire leadership of the department deserve to take pride in one bipartisan transition of authority that actually kept the people’s business in mind and moving forward.
With Barack Obama at the head of the ticket and Hillary Clinton showing strong signs of rallying behind him, the Democrats are more likely to see many victories in November. If Jay Nixon sweeps to power as Missouri governor in the wake of Obama, the Department of Corrections will be the last area of state government that will require his attention. If Nixon wins and is looking for a gesture of bipartisan good will (and sound judgment), leaving Larry Crawford on the job would be a wise move. In the event that Nixon wins and decides to replace Crawford, it is imperative that the new director of Corrections continue to advance the vision established by Kempker and then further strengthened by his Republican successor.