Abstract The United States currently has the highest incarceration rate in the
world. At present, there are some 2.3 million people in American prisons and jails—
a 500% increase over the last four decades. In this introduction to the Handbook of
Issues in Criminal Justice Reform in the United States, we will review how tough
crime policies have exacerbated racial inequity and poverty, leading to mass incarceration
and bringing the criminal justice system to a breaking point. Bringing
together experts from diverse disciplines, we propose a holistic framework for
reforming the criminal justice system focusing on five main domains: (1) policing;
(2) policy/sentencing; (3) reentry; (4) treatment; and (5) alternatives to incarceration.
This introduction will conclude with a review of seminal reform issues that
will address the five domains of the Handbook.