MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop
MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Wolraich Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop |
Newt & Pat frame the issue reasonably enough:
There is an urgent need to address the astronomical growth in the prison population, with its huge costs in dollars and lost human potential. We spent $68 billion in 2010 on corrections - 300 percent more than 25 years ago. The prison population is growing 13 times faster than the general population. These facts should trouble every American.
No argument there, but
We can no longer afford business as usual with prisons. The criminal justice system is broken, and conservatives must lead the way in fixing it. ... Several states have shown that it is possible to cut costs while keeping the public safe.
What worries me is that the central idea of Right on Crime is to reduce costs by shifting responsibility for rehabilitation and incarceration away from prisons. Newt doesn't specify excatly who would take over, but he does mention Faith-based groups. Frankly it sounds like they're laying the foundation for more privatization of government.
Comments
At least Gingrich and Nolan acknowledge that prison experience can result in further criminal activity after non-violent, low-level criminals are released, i.e., help cause recidivism. I don't understand what they mean by this point:
"5. Because incentives affect human behavior, policies for both offenders and the corrections system must align incentives with our goals of public safety, victim restitution and satisfaction, and cost-effectiveness, thereby moving from a system that grows when it fails to one that rewards results."
Wonder how they feel about solitary confinement?
by we are stardust on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 8:21am