Note: The following reflection is part of our ongoing series on justice, research, and reform.
As a member of the research team, I saw firsthand how scholarship—conducted with directly impacted people—can shift policy, narrative, and law.

When Evidence Meets Lived Experience

When the Ad Hoc Committee on Lifetime Parole organized, we didn’t just raise our voices—we brought evidence.
From the start, we understood that stories alone, while powerful, could be dismissed. But research, conducted with directly impacted people and not just about them, carried undeniable weight.
It became a cornerstone of our advocacy, demonstrating to lawmakers and the public that long‑term imprisonment was neither necessary for public safety nor justifiable as endless punishment.

Early Foundations (2006–2007)

In 2006, our team presented “Public safety/public interest: Experiences of people who have served long terms in prison released to the community” at the American Society of Criminology in Los Angeles.
By March 2007, at John Jay College’s Off the Witness Stand conference, we shared “To parole or not to parole: Using science to inform parole decisions for people who have been convicted of violent crimes.”

Peer‑Reviewed Anchor (2013)

These studies culminated in “How much punishment is enough? Designing participatory research on parole policies for persons convicted of violent crimes” in the Journal of Social Issues (2013).
See John Jay College •
Taylor & Francis Online •
ResearchGate.

Extending the Frame (2017–2022)

• Boudin (2017), “Hope, Illusion and Imagination.” Law review article that cites and builds on our JSI piece to reframe punishment and parole.
• DeVeaux (2022), “Not just by rates of recidivism.” Taylor & Francis study centering how NYC Black men define success after prison—work, relationships, mentoring, and civic life.

From Research to Practice (2025)

Our latest internal framework, “Incorporating Lived Expertise into Research” (May 2025), distills what we’ve learned about designing, governing, and sharing research with the people most impacted.
It’s not just a method—it’s a stance: research is resistance.

What’s Next: The Participatory Playbook

Next up, I’ll share a practical guide to participatory research for organizers, advocates, and scholars—how to structure partnerships, protect participants, co‑analyze data, and translate findings into policy.
If you care about justice, you can help produce the knowledge that movements need.

Calls to action:

• Subscribe for the final installment: Participatory Research: A How‑To Blueprint (coming soon).

• Share this post with a colleague in policy, academia, or community organizing.

• If you’re part of an organization seeking to adopt a lived‑expertise model, reach out—we’d love to collaborate.