THIS DAY IN 1994
U.S. prison population exceeds one million
SIGNIFICANCE
Only 30 years earlier, the conservative idea of punishment was chastised by the establishment as old-fashioned. Leaders felt that softer punishments with the promise of rehabilitation were the prescription for what ailed America. Instead violent crimes rates soared in large urban areas and city dwellers fled for the safer suburban alternatives. This caused the tax base to drop and U.S. cities fell into greater despair.
Clinton’s 100,000 Cops initiative was just the kind of New Democrat idea that appealed to the populace, even though at its heart it was a typical federal funded jobs program.
RESULTS
Both parties are now tougher on crime than they were in the 1960s and violent crime has dropped quite a bit. The downside is that no one is left to oppose the excess of non-violent drug offenders in jail that easily cost the tax payer more money in incarceration than they're worth.
4 comments:
Thomas Friedman has argued that the reasons for the drop in violent crime in the US are explained quite simply by demographics/birth rates, incarceration of more criminals, and abortion on demand, which collectively have contributed to lower numbers of non-incarcerated disadvantaged young males.
The reasons why crime went up through the middle decades of the 20th century are more complex and more interesting.
At the time, I couldn't think of the book I had read that talked about societal, economic and govt spending trends in America from 1900 to 2000. It just came to me - it is called THE FIRST MEASURED CENTURY by Caplow and can be had from Amazon (used) for $2.84.
Freakonomics also makes a pretty strong case that abortion rates eliminate many of the kinds of people that become criminals. I wonder if they count the crimes they put on each other while in jail.
Sorry, I meant Freakonomics. The World Is Flat is sitting on top of my Freakonomics and I cited the wrong book.
Post a Comment