Saint Ignatius High School and the Diocese of Cleveland collaborated on a community presentation, “Justice and Mercy: A Better way to Criminal Justice.” The March 2 program, presented by Brian Lovins, examined the existing system and why it is so difficult to change.
Lovins, president of Justice System Partners, is past president of the American Probation and Parole Association. He has a doctoral degree in criminology from the University of Cincinnati.
Prisons are necessary, he maintains, but changes are needed to focus more on rehabilitation. A Pew Research Center survey that showed 74% of Americans feel the justice system is not effective in reducing crime, he said, “But it’s not for the reasons people think.”

Lovins noted that for various reasons, 60% of violent crimes and 67% of property crimes are not reported to the police. And the justice system is not good about clearing the cases that land in the system. Only about 37% of violent crimes were cleared in 2022. In the categories of most violent crimes, clearance rates were about 61% for homicide/non-negligent manslaughter; about 27-32% for rape; about 30-31% for robbery and about 49% for aggravated assault.
“The problem is not the people; it’s the system,” Lovins said. Statistics show 13% of people feel the system is too tough, 25% say it’s about right and 62% feel it isn’t tough enough. Yet, research shows that getting tougher on crime, including “zero tolerance” policies and tougher sentencing do not reduce crime. “In fact, in some instances, crime increases.” Ninety-five percent of those in prison are released and almost half will be arrested again.
“We can do better,” he said.

The United States has 5% of the world’s population, yet accounts for 20% of the world’s incarcerated population. The prison population increased by 800% in the past 45 years, with social costs pegged at a staggering $1 trillion per year.
Young people, whose brains are not yet fully formed, often land in the adult justice system, which can have lifelong detrimental effects, along with a high recidivism rate.
“It’s not the law that keeps you from killing someone, it’s your morals,” Lovins said.
The U.S., known as a country of second chances, “blocks people into the justice system with no way out,” Lovins said. He used driving under the influence as an example, explaining that someone who “had one beer or drink too many and made the bad decision to drive,” will have that infraction follow them. It can affect insurance rates, employment and many other aspects of their life. It also can be challenging if the person lives in an area with little or no public transportation and has no way to get to and from work.
“People who are thriving in life and who have better opportunities don’t commit crimes,” he said.

Corrections officers who work as “coaches” for the incarcerated tend to have a better success rate, Lovins said, yet they are not trained for that. Instead, they are tasked with “getting the job done.”
He said judges have options in sentencing and can use alternative punishments and take advantage of programs to help the offenders rehabilitate.
“We need to reimagine the criminal justice system from catching people failing to helping them succeed,” Lovins said.
“Simply calling for harshness and long sentences is not a path forward.”
