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MassIncarceration 9 - 07 Jul 2012 - Main.KatherineMackey
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| | I thought it would be useful to consolidate a conversation that's going on in the class facebook group. The material is interesting, important, and relates to our discussions in this class (most obviously regarding Robinson and his work). Hopefully it will also allow us to procrastinate from finishing torts or con law reading. I apologize for the scattershot nature of this post. I may go back and do more editing / summarizing of the links below if there's any interest or this sparks a discussion. Of course I welcome any interested person to do likewise, or just jump off from one of the articles or points and run with it.
A New Yorker article on mass incarceration that provides something of a historical overview. "The Caging of America" by Adam Glopnik, 1/30/2012. | | | Personally, I'm a bit hopeless when it comes to punishment/drug/prison reform. It seems like, as long as popularly-elected legislatures and prosecutors are given the bulk of the power to define and enforce laws, as long as popularly-elected judges are the ones refereeing the system, and as long as young black men are the ones that face the brunt of the consequences, the prospect for reform is negligible. The suggestions above are good ones, but will they happen? Can anyone think of ways to actually change the system? It seems like a boulder that's pretty impossible to nudge, in my view.
-- JaredMiller - 07 Jul 2012 | |
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> | It doesn't seem as bleak to me. It seems plausible that reform could happen like it did for healthcare. One (small, liberal) state decides to change the way it approaches drug offenses, adopting the suggestions that Jared lists above (ending sentencing for drug misdemeanors, decriminalizing marijuana, leaving judges free to use common sense). These changes produce positive results in the state--maybe they end up saving the state money or they lead to a lower crime rate, since law-enforcement officers are free to concentrate on other things and low-level offenders are not incarcerated with violent criminals. Other states, or the federal government, see the improvement and begin to adopt some of these changes. Saving money and reducing the rate of violent crime are results that would be as easy a sell in TX as they would be in MA.
I think this New Yorker article about Portugal's drug policy is interesting and relevant. It's behind a paywall, unfortunately, but the abstract gives you the gist of the argument.
-- KatherineMackey - 07 Jul 2012 |
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