Attaining Criminal Law Ends Through Environmental Means

Abstract

The criminal justice system is inefficient, ineffective, and fraught with laws and policies disparately impacting people of color and low-income individuals. There is no singular solution to crime, and the current system does not go far enough. If we are to achieve the goals set out by the criminal justice system of enhancing public safety and reducing crime, then we must resolve the root issues contributing to crime through other bodies of law and alternative mechanisms. This paper will analyze how criminal law ends may be achieved through environmental means; specifically, how the addition of green spaces in urban communities can reduce crime and improve communities. This paper argues that crime reduction and prevention goals can be achieved by using zoning law to create more green spaces in urban communities because communities with accessible green space experience lower rates of crime and an increase in community well-being and prosperity. Given that low-income individuals and people of color lack comparable access to green space and are most adversely affected by the criminal justice system compared to their White and more affluent counterparts, the addition of green spaces in these communities may help correct racial and economic injustices while improving the areas in which they live.