Rural Justice Collaborative
The Rural Justice Collaborative (RJC) was formed in February 2021 as a partnership between the National Center for State Courts and Rulo Strategies to support rural justice practitioners and their partners in behavioral health and public health. This effort was born out of the recognition that rural justice stakeholders face many of the same challenges as urban communities (e.g., transportation and housing) but often have fewer resources and larger geographic areas of responsibility. More importantly, rural communities possess unique strengths. The State Justice Institute supports the RJC initiative.
PUBLICATION
Rural Justice Innovations.
Rural criminal justice matters, and rural criminal justice innovations must be studied and celebrated. The Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center joined with Rulo Strategies, LLC, and the National Center for State Courts to publish a report highlighting innovations in rural criminal legal systems across the United States. For too long, funders, researchers, and justice innovators have focused on urban justice systems, largely ignoring the rural criminal justice experience. When studying rural systems, attention usually falls on their deficits, not their strengths. However, the smaller scale of rural justice systems means they can be flexible and nimble justice innovators. As this report demonstrates, there are countless lessons to be learned from rural stakeholders in the criminal system.
