The Power of Thoughtful, In-Person Gatherings

As the leader of a fully remote team, there are days when I never leave my home office. Most of my conversations take place in two-dimensions. While I am a huge proponent of building remote teams, I admit that I often miss in-person human interaction, particularly with those who may think differently from me.

I recently attended a conference, “Prosecution in the South: Challenges and Innovative Solutions,” hosted by Vanderbilt Law School’s Project on Prosecution Policy, which drove home the power of thoughtful, in-person gatherings.

The conversation centered on challenges facing modern prosecutors in the southeast, including prosecutorial independence, data collection, and the death penalty.

The audience had diverse perspectives, including elected prosecutors from across the political and ideological spectrum, formerly incarcerated individuals, victims of crime, and academics.

I had expected a lot of tension. We were discussing hard topics with a group of strongly opinionated leaders and advocates who operate in highly-charged, often political contexts.

And yet in conversations I shared — over meals, over coffee, in between meetings — I found much agreement over what is broken in our justice and interest in trying to fix it.

At Vanderbilt, I appeared on a panel with Solicitor Scarlett Wilson, the elected prosecutor in Charleston, SC. Together, we told the story of how Justice Innovation Lab was founded in response to Solicitor Wilson’s desire to use existing data to be more fair and effective.

Four years later, the people-centered, data-informed approach to decision making that we developed together has significantly reduced harms in Charleston’s criminal legal system, including unnecessary incarceration, harmful inefficiencies, and disparate outcomes.

JIL is now working with seven communities across the US. In the coming year, we plan to reach even more jurisdictions in partnership with academic institutions through our JIL@ program.

It is easy to read the news and feel the division in our country. However, there is much collective agreement about things we can do right now to build more safe and fair communities.

By: Jared Fishman , Justice Innovation Lab Founder and Executive Director

For more information about Justice Innovation Lab, visit www.JusticeInnovationLab.org.

This article was originally posted on JIL's Medium blog: https://medium.com/@Lab4justice/the-power-of-thoughtful-in-person-gatherings-ec5475301139

In photo above (l to r): Ninth Circuit (SC) Solicitor Scarlett Wilson, JIL Founder Jared Fishman, Duke Law Professor Brandon Garrett , Executive Director of the TN District Attorneys General Conference Stephen Crump , and VPOPP Director Alissa Marque Heydari