The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/viewpoints/)
This month’s anti-police fervor is bolstering the Stop Snitching movement. That couldn’t be a more counterproductive result for communities already disproportionally victimized by racism in the justice system, writes a University of Pennsylvania professor.
Laws and practices that treat justice-involved young people as though they were “little adults” fail to make communities safer, subject youth to harmful conditions of confinement, and drive racial disparities, write two advocates for reform.
For many protesters, “defunding” has the air of a punitive measure—to punish the police by cutting their budgets. But that ignores the gritty day-to-day reality of police work, in which cops are often the first responders to mental health crises or domestic violence, write two University of Nebraska policing scholars.
The plight of incarcerated women—one of the most vulnerable and fastest growing demographics in U.S. prisons and jails—has largely been hidden in the narrative of tragedy associated with the pandemic, write two R Street researchers.
Social workers are trained in the skills needed to address the safety and health concerns of society’s most vulnerable individuals. That’s a compelling reason for law enforcement to apply those skills to regain the trust of their communities, write two professors from Arizona State University.
With national recidivism rates hovering above 80 percent, successful reintegration seems an elusive goal. Why can’t communities recognize those who achieve it with a “certificate of acceptance?,” suggests an inmate in Washington State.
A group of academics has criticized the Pulitzer Prize awarded the Louisville Courier-Journal for its examination of pardons issued by departing Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, calling it an example of how the media’s portrayal “has helped create our mass incarceration crisis.” The letter displayed a fundamental misunderstanding of the news media’s role, says TCR’s Washington bureau chief.
Krishna Maharaj has spent the last three decades in a Florida prison, where he faces the death penalty for murders he says he didn’t commit. Now 81 years old and ailing, he charges that the state has not responded to his appeals for a new hearing on evidence that proves his innocence, putting him at risk for infection from COVID-19.
What are the boundaries of policing—and how do we hold police accountable if they go beyond those boundaries? asks a former Pennsylvania DA.
Americans are asking if there are better ways of running our justice system, but without the numbers to answer fundamental questions, reformers are operating in the dark, write two specialists in criminological research.