The mission of NABCJ is to examine and act upon the needs, concerns,, and contributions of African Americans and other minorities as they relate to the administration of equal justice.
The National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice (NABCJ) is a non-profit, non-partisan, multiethnic professional association of individuals committed to the goal of improving the administration of justice at the local, state, and federal levels.
The genesis of NABCJ was a historic conference on “Blacks in the Criminal Justice System” hosted by
Dr. Charles Owen at the University of Alabama in February of 1973. At the meeting, Dr. Bennett
Cooper, then Director of the State of Ohio’s Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, called for
the creation of a permanent national organization that would focus on the goal of achieving equal
justice for Blacks and other minorities. The conference supported Dr. Cooper’s recommendation and
created a committee to establish the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice, Inc.