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It is very difficult for elected officials to talk seriously about drug policy reform (It is easy for them to talk about it non-seriously, but that’s a separate matter). The issues require nuanced dialogue, but the debate is dominated by polarized shouting matches. Reform minded politicians are typically reduced to un-sound-bite-worthy statements such as “I’d [...]
Archive for the ‘Prisons and penal policy’ Category
January 21st, 2012
November 27th, 2011
Category: Prisons and penal policy
I have long agreed with Mark Kleiman that part of the solution to prison overcrowding is to use technology to monitor lower-risk offenders in the community. But as I start to work with some brilliant and dedicated Stanford law students on the reduction of California’s prison population, I move from the theoretical to the practical [...]
September 22nd, 2011
Category: Prisons and penal policy
The scariest thing about cases such as Troy Davis’s: I bet this misdeed was done by people who believed he is guilty.
July 25th, 2011
This case tests my own ambivalent views.
July 21st, 2011
Category: Crime Control, Prisons and penal policy
My latest on community corrections, in the journal Criminology and Public Policy.
May 27th, 2011
Category: Prisons and penal policy
Bill Bennett thinks that locking people up isn’t always the best solution to the crime problem. That’s good news. There remains a puzzle: HOPE and related ideas appeal to conservative pundits and think-tanks, but Republican legislators seem firmly committed to toughness for the sake of toughness. On the other hand, liberals in office tend to [...]
May 24th, 2011
Category: Prisons and penal policy
The court told California’s politicians that if they couldn’t treat their prisoners decently, they couldn’t have as many prisoners.
May 23rd, 2011
If we handle it right, we could have lower spending and more public safety by releasing some prisoners.
May 11th, 2011
Newt Gingrich has endorsed reducing the size of the prison population. No one is listing that among the (many) reasons he won’t be the Republican nominee for President. That’s rather encouraging.
