These Policies Are Old. And They Fail.
Because nothing works at all the way the average citizen believes it does. In fact, a report by the Cato Institute calls the American criminal justice system “rotten to the core.”
The phrase “tough on crime” carbon dates people. These policies date back to the 1970s and 80s and are not based on evidence or data. They have been in place for a very long time and they fail spectacularly, hand over fist. The United States Department of Justice published data on these policies failing as early as 1995.
I earned a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice. All of my classes and textbooks drove home one vital truth: “Tough on Crime” tactics were proven again and again to be ineffective. They are a waste of resources and it is time for change.
I Want to Change the Public Conversation on Criminal Justice
Things will never get better without a shift in public perception. For the next several weeks, I am publishing work from my Master’s Program that demonstrates policies that actually work and the system’s shift toward preventing recidivism: diversion programs, rehabilitation measures, and causes of crime.
These assignments demanded facts rather than opinion. They required gathering information and consolidating what I found. I plan to publish them with the original scholarly sources. The only difference will be formatting and some headings may be changed.
What Are Scholarly Sources and Why Do They Matter?
Scholarly sources are articles written by experts, academics, and researchers, typically people at the forefront of a field. They get new theories, study findings, and research out into the world to improve what academia and the public know about particular topics.
They contain verifiable facts and data rather than opinion or political framing.
Written by people and research teams with strong credentials and established reputations in their fields.
They do not contain partisan bias, which means new information is not threatening. It is enlightening.
Local public libraries and colleges provide access to electronic academic databases, usually free to their patrons. Google Scholar is also a fantastic resource and is entirely free to use.
Government research bodies including the National Institute of Justice, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, and the Office of Justice Programs also publish publicly accessible research at no cost.
The Fresh Ideas Series
I invite you to follow along as I post these pieces. I also encourage you to share them and join me in improving the public conversation on evidence-based criminal justice reform.
Cato Institute — America’s Criminal Justice System: Rotten to the Core — cato.org →
U.S. Department of Justice / OJP — Failure of Get-Tough Crime Policy (1995) — ojp.gov →
Finding Scholarly SourcesGoogle Scholar — scholar.google.com →
University of Toronto — What Counts as a Scholarly Source — onesearch.library.utoronto.ca →
National Institute of Justice — nij.ojp.gov →
Bureau of Justice Statistics — bjs.ojp.gov →
Related Clutch Justice CoverageRevisit The Series that Started it All:
- How the Criminal Justice System Fails Veterans — And What Needs to Change
- The Dangers of Stop-and-Frisk: Key Concerns and Issues with Police Policies
- DNA Retention and its Future in Criminal Justice
- Court System Subcomponents Around the World: How Justice Systems Compare and Contrast
- The Case for Three Strikes Law Reform
- Crowdsourcing Justice: How “The New Irregulars” Are Exposing Systemic Corruption
