The Myth of Overpunishment

The Myth of Overpunishment
Author: Barry Latzer
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2022-04-26
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1645720330

Justice is on trial in the United States. From police to prisons, the justice system is accused of overpunishing. It is said that too many Americans are abused by the police, arrested, jailed, and imprisoned. But the denunciations are overblown. The data indicates, contrary to the critics, that we don’t imprison too many, nor do we overpunish. This becomes evident when we examine the crimes of prisoners and the actual time served. The history of punishment in the United States, discussed in vivid detail, reveals that the treatment of offenders has become progressively more lenient. Corporal punishment is no more. The death penalty has become a rarity. Many convicted defendants are given no-incarceration sentences. Restorative justice may be a good thing for low-level offenses, or as an add-on for remorseful prisoners, but when it comes to major crimes it is no substitute for punitive justice. The Myth of Overpunishment presents a workable and politically feasible plan to electronically monitor arrested suspects prior to adjudication (bail reform), defendants placed on probation, and parolees.

The Myth of Overpunishment

The Myth of Overpunishment
Author: Barry Latzer
Publisher:
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2021-09
Genre:
ISBN: 9781645720324

Justice is on trial in the United States. From police to prisons, the justice system is accused of overpunishing. It is said that too many Americans are abused by the police, arrested, jailed, and imprisoned. But the denunciations are overblown. The data indicates, contrary to the critics, that we don't imprison too many, nor do we overpunish. This becomes evident when we examine the crimes of prisoners and the actual time served. The history of punishment in the United States, discussed in vivid detail, reveals that the treatment of offenders has become progressively more lenient. Corporal punishment is no more. The death penalty has become a rarity. Many convicted defendants are given no-incarceration sentences. Restorative justice may be a good thing for low-level offenses, or as an add-on for remorseful prisoners, but when it comes to major crimes it is no substitute for punitive justice. The Myth of Overpunishment presents a workable and politically feasible plan to electronically monitor arrested suspects prior to adjudication (bail reform), defendants placed on probation, and parolees.

Criminal (in)Justice

Criminal (in)Justice
Author: Rafael A. Mangual
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2023-07-25
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781546001522

In his impassioned-yet-measured book, Rafael A. Mangual offers an incisive critique of America's increasingly radical criminal justice reform movement, and makes a convincing case against the pursuit of "justice" through mass-decarceration and depolicing. After a summer of violent protests in 2020--sparked by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Rayshard Brooks--a dangerously false narrative gained mainstream acceptance: Criminal justice in the United States is overly punitive and racially oppressive. But, the harshest and loudest condemnations of incarceration, policing, and prosecution are often shallow and at odds with the available data. And the significant harms caused by this false narrative are borne by those who can least afford them: black and brown people who are disproportionately the victims of serious crimes. In Criminal (In)Justice, Rafael A. Mangual offers a more balanced understanding of American criminal justice, and cautions against discarding traditional crime control measures. A powerful combination of research, data-driven policy journalism, and the author's lived experiences, this book explains what many reform advocates get wrong, and illustrates how the misguided commitment to leniency places America's most vulnerable communities at risk. The stakes of this moment are incredibly high. Ongoing debates over criminal justice reform have the potential to transform our society for a generation--for better or for worse. Grappling with the data--and the sometimes harsh realities they reflect--is the surest way to minimize the all-too-common injustices plaguing neighborhoods that can least afford them.

Judicial Corporal Punishment as an Alternative to Incarceration in the United States

Judicial Corporal Punishment as an Alternative to Incarceration in the United States
Author: Sanaz Alasti
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 159
Release: 2023-07-25
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 166693030X

Sanaz Alasti leaves the mainstream alternatives to incarceration to examine a different, seemingly archaic approach, physical (but non-carceral) punishment—corporal punishment. This book ignites debates about the history, persistence, and use of corporal punishment in criminal justice systems. Alasti compares penological practices in in Western societies, represented by the United States, and Islamic societies, represented by Iran, to analyze which practices are more deterrent, less costly, and most humane. While Alasti does not suggest this should be the norm, she does present intriguing questions. Which is more barbaric? Is judicial corporal punishment a more humane and effective form of punishment compared to incarceration? Is corporal punishment a less cruel alternative to spending years behind bars in primitive and punitive jails and prisons? This book would be of interest to those studying criminology, criminal justice, history, law, and sociology.

Death Penalty Cases

Death Penalty Cases
Author: Barry Latzer
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 457
Release: 2010-10-27
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0123820251

Death Penalty Cases presents significant verbatim excerpts of death-penalty decisions from the United States Supreme Court. The first chapter introduces the topics discussed throughout the book. It also includes a detailed history of the death penalty in the United States. After this introduction, the remaining eighteen chapters are divided into five parts: Foundational Cases, Death-Eligible Crimes and Persons, The Death Penalty Trial, Post-Conviction Review, and Execution Issues. The first part, consisting of five chapters, talks about the mandatory death penalty, mitigating evidence and racial bias. The next part covers death-eligible crimes, such as rape and other crimes that do not involve homicide and murder. The middle part presents the trial process, from choosing the appropriate decision-makers through the sentencing decision. Followed by this is a chapter focusing on the aftermath of conviction, such as claims of innocence. The book concludes by exploring issues related to execution, such as not executing insane convicts. Finally, execution methods are presented. - Provides the most recent case material--no need to supplement - Topical organization of cases provides a more logical organization for structuring a course - Co-authors with different perspectives on the death penalty assures complete impartiality of the material - Provides the necessary historical background, a clear explanation of the current capital case process, and an impartial description of the controversies surrounding the death penalty - Provides the latest statistics relevant to discussions on the death penalty - Clearly explains the different ways in which the states process death penalty cases, with excerpts of the most relevant statutes

Crime and Punishment in America

Crime and Punishment in America
Author: Elliott Currie
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2013
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1250024218

Argues that a policy of mass incarceration is ineffective and that prison expenditures could have greater impact on criminal violence if spent on prevention and rehabilitation programs.

The Rise and Fall of Violent Crime in America

The Rise and Fall of Violent Crime in America
Author: Barry Latzer
Publisher: Encounter Books
Total Pages: 316
Release: 2017-06-27
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1594039305

A compelling case can be made that violent crime, especially after the 1960s, was one of the most significant domestic issues in the United States. Indeed, few issues had as profound an effect on American life in the last third of the twentieth century. After 1965, crime rose to such levels that it frightened virtually all Americans and prompted significant alterations in everyday behaviors and even lifestyles. The risk of being mugged was a concern when Americans chose places to live and schools for their children, selected commuter routes to work, and planned their leisure activities. In some locales, people were afraid to leave their dwellings at any time, day or night, even to go to the market. In the worst of the post-1960s crime wave, Americans spent part of each day literally looking back over their shoulders. The Rise and Fall of Violent Crime in America is the first book to comprehensively examine this important phenomenon over the entire postwar era. It combines a social history of the United States with the insights of criminology and examines the relationship between rising and falling crime and such historical developments as the postwar economic boom, suburbanization and the rise of the middle class, baby booms and busts, war and antiwar protest, the urbanization of minorities, and more.

Prisoners of Politics

Prisoners of Politics
Author: Rachel Elise Barkow
Publisher: Belknap Press
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2019-03-04
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0674919238

A CounterPunch Best Book of the Year A Lone Star Policy Institute Recommended Book “If you care, as I do, about disrupting the perverse politics of criminal justice, there is no better place to start than Prisoners of Politics.” —James Forman, Jr., author of Locking Up Our Own The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. The social consequences of this fact—recycling people who commit crimes through an overwhelmed system and creating a growing class of permanently criminalized citizens—are devastating. A leading criminal justice reformer who has successfully rewritten sentencing guidelines, Rachel Barkow argues that we would be safer, and have fewer people in prison, if we relied more on expertise and evidence and worried less about being “tough on crime.” A groundbreaking work that is transforming our national conversation on crime and punishment, Prisoners of Politics shows how problematic it is to base criminal justice policy on the whims of the electorate and argues for an overdue shift that could upend our prison problem and make America a more equitable society. “A critically important exploration of the political dynamics that have made us one of the most punitive societies in human history. A must-read by one of our most thoughtful scholars of crime and punishment.” —Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy “Barkow’s analysis suggests that it is not enough to slash police budgets if we want to ensure lasting reform. We also need to find ways to insulate the process from political winds.” —David Cole, New York Review of Books “A cogent and provocative argument about how to achieve true institutional reform and fix our broken system.” —Emily Bazelon, author of Charged

Rogue Prosecutors

Rogue Prosecutors
Author: Zack Smith
Publisher: Bombardier Books
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2023-06-27
Genre: Law
ISBN: 163758654X

Rogue Prosecutors explains the origins, beliefs, playbook, funding, and real-life consequences of the “progressive prosecutor” movement—a group of newly elected prosecutors, their allies, and backers that refuse to prosecute crimes, hold criminals accountable, and seek justice for victims. Told through true crime stories from eight different cities, the authors explore how a radical movement funded and conceived by George Soros—and ostensibly designed to “reverse engineer” the criminal justice system as we know it—has succeeded in replacing law and order prosecutors with pro-criminal, anti-victim zealots. Weaving together extensive interviews with victims, law enforcement officers, lawyers, and judges, Rogue Prosecutors offers a searing portrait of the devastation caused by the policies of these hand-picked activists, how their hands-off approach to prosecution has encouraged lawlessness and eviscerated the relationship with law enforcement, and why minorities have suffered the most in cities with “progressive prosecutors.” In story after story, the authors underscore that justice and public safety require prosecutors to hold all criminals accountable, and that the best choice for district attorney is not necessarily based on partisan politics, but between those who believe in law and order and those who don’t.

Japan's Prosecution Review Commission

Japan's Prosecution Review Commission
Author: David T. Johnson
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2023-01-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3031193733

This book explains Japan’s unique Prosecution Review Commission (PRC) which is composed of eleven lay people selected randomly from voter registration lists. Each of the country’s 165 PRCs reviews non-charge decisions made by professional prosecutors and determines which cases should be reinvestigated or charged. PRCs also provide prosecutors with general proposals and recommendations for improving their policies and practices. The book analyzes the history and operations of the PRC and uses statistics and case studies to examine its various impacts, from legitimation and shadow effects to kickbacks and mandatory prosecution. More broadly, this book explores a problem that is common in many criminal justice systems: how to hold prosecutors accountable for their non-charge decisions. It discusses the potential these panels have for improving the quality of criminal justice in Japan and other countries, and it will appeal to scholars and students studying prosecution and democracy, criminal justice, criminology, lay participation, justice reform, and Japanese studies.