9913 Fewer Prisoners Doesnrsquot Mean US Is Becoming Soft on Crime | National Review Online

wwwnationalreviewcomcorner357860fewer-prisoners-doesnt-mean-us-becoming-soft-crime-vikrant-p-reddy-marc-levin 15

Follow nroSubscribe Print

Subscribe Digital

Gift NR Print

Gift NR Digital

September 16 Issue

Log In Register ARTICLES AUTHORS RSS STORE DONATE MEDIA KIT SUBSCRIPTION HELP CONTACT

Like 3 Tweet 9 0 Print Text

Fewer Prisoners Doesnrsquot Mean US Is BecomingSoft on Crime

Michael Baronersquos article on the home page ldquoTime to Ease Up on Crimerdquo is

excellent His survey of recent history on criminal-justice policy is invaluable

Barone correctly observes that policymakers and the public properly realized that

the pendulum had clearly swung too far in the direction of leniency in the 1960s

Accordingly some of the six-fold increase in incarceration in the following few

decades was necessary to keep the public safe from violent and dangerous

criminals As Barone explains however in the last several years we have begun to

see a slight drop in incarceration rates amidst a growing consensus that too many

low-risk nonviolent offenders had been swept into an increasingly vast prison

system that too often did not provide results commensurate with the cost to

taxpayers

Google+

NRO Webathon in progress Read about it here Donate here

Like 23k

by Taboola

Thomas Sowell - Obama

and the Art of Phoniness

Nancy French - The Sad

Boring Fall of Miley Cyrus

Thomas Sowell - School for

Scolds

Thomas Sowell - A Lesson

for the Busybodies

Do THIS Before Eating

Carbs (Every Time)

FixYourBloodSugarcom

Why 75 of Online

Shopping Carts are

Abandoned

PoachIt

September 6 2013 558 PM

By Vikrant P Reddy Marc A Levin

Comments 0

Share

Enter the terms you wish to search for Search

Home The Corner The Agenda Campaign Spot Home Front Right Field Bench Memos Media Blog The Feed Planet Gore Events

Audio Video amp Galleries Kudlow Pryce-Jones Exchequer Phi Beta Cons Critical Condition Human Exceptionalism Tweet Tracker

About Archive E-Mail RSS

The CornerThe one and only

9913 Fewer Prisoners Doesnrsquot Mean US Is Becoming Soft on Crime | National Review Online

wwwnationalreviewcomcorner357860fewer-prisoners-doesnt-mean-us-becoming-soft-crime-vikrant-p-reddy-marc-levin 25

Like 3 Tweet 9 0 Print Text

Our only quibble with the article (and itrsquos a small quibble) is in the framing of new

policy approaches as ldquoeasing up on crimerdquo The new policy approaches being

embraced by conservatives such as David Keene Ed Meese and Grover Norquist

(all signatories to the Right On Crime Statement of Principles) are actually pretty

tough mdash but theyrsquore also more sensible than what we had been doing

Take for example a probation program in Hawaii that has received rave reviews

from many conservatives Itrsquos called the Hawaii Opportunity Probation with

Enforcement Court mdash or the HOPE Court In many jurisdictions missing a drug

test or testing ldquodirtyrdquo while on probation is repeatedly ignored until finally the

court becomes exasperated and sentences the repeat offender to a lengthy prison

stay

HOPE works differently The offender does not receive several slaps on the wrist

followed by a lengthy prison stay they receive a swift and certain sanction The

judge for example might sentence the first-time probation offender to a weekend

in jail If the offender violates a second time a slightly longer sentence is given mdash

perhaps a week In this way the sanctions are ldquograduatedrdquo until the offender

straightens up or the court recognizes that prison time andor drug treatment are

necessary

Since HOPE was instituted in 2004 the rate of missed and failed drug tests has

dropped by an extraordinary 80 percent The reason is simplemdashpeople respond to

swift and certain sanctions better than they respond to sanctions that seem distant

We know one professor who likens the HOPE Court approach to commonsense

strategies for disciplining a child If a child repeatedly takes cookies from the cookie

jar sensible parents do not repeatedly say ldquodonrsquot do that againrdquo and then ground

the child for a month once the tenth cookie is stolen Instead after the very first

cookie is stolen the child goes to the corner for a brief ldquotime outrdquo

The HOPE Court works in other words because it applies tough love Itrsquos ldquotough

on crimerdquo to punish somebody immediately for a parole violation rather than

waiting for repeated violations before throwing the book at them

mdash Vikrant P Reddy is a policy analyst for the Texas Public Policy

Foundation and the foundationrsquos Right On Crime initiative Marc A Levin is

director of the Center for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy

Foundation and policy director of the foundationrsquos Right On Crime initiative

Share

From Around the Web by Taboola

Denver Post RepublicansDominating CO Recall Election

An Unbelievably Small EffortAgainst Many Many Many Targets

The Overrated German EconomicModel

Bring on the Draconian Cuts

Reveille 9913

This Day in Liberal Judicial ActivismmdashSeptember 9

Alimony for Egg FreezingCommodifies Children

CONNECT WITH NRO

NRO LIVE BLOG FEED

The Corner

The Campaign Spot

The Agenda

Exchequer

Right Field

Bench Memos

Human Exceptionalism

Your E-Mail Here

(Simply insert your e-mail and hit ldquoSign Uprdquo)

9913 Fewer Prisoners Doesnrsquot Mean US Is Becoming Soft on Crime | National Review Online

wwwnationalreviewcomcorner357860fewer-prisoners-doesnt-mean-us-becoming-soft-crime-vikrant-p-reddy-marc-levin 35

1 Stock Obama does not want

you to know about

Investscom

The 1 Worst Metabolism

Killing Food Ever

Unleash Your Thin

Is Driveway Sealcoating worth

the money

Angies List

How to Protect Yourself From

Credit Fraud

Daily Finance

Lindsey Vonn Tells Vogue No

More Marriage

ThePostGame

26 Dogs Having the Best Day

Ever

BarkBox

From The Web You May Like

Pastor Mocked for His lsquoBiblical Money

Codersquo Gets Last Laugh (Moneynew s)

The 1 Exercise Thats Making You OLD

(Avoid) (Old School New Body)

The Most Dangerous Beaches for Shark

Attacks (Vincent Briatore)

You Wont Believe What Else Your

Dishwasher Can Do (ulive)

10 flushable facts about the toilet

(Angies List)

Mark Steyn - Now It All Makes Sense

Rich Lowry - Re Lets Not Repeat Key Iraq

Mistakes

Thomas Sowell - When the Libya Lies Fell

Apart

Stanley Kurtz - Mark Steyn is Losing

Jonah Goldberg - Clear-Cut Stupidity on

Syria

More From The Web

The 1 WORST Food For Your

Digestion (Are You Eating It)

Toxic Belly Bug Fix

Nine Comments That Could Get

You Fired

Monster

Tel Aviv Fashion Week

Vice Magazine

Print Digital iOS Google Android

SUBSCRIBE TO NATIONAL REVIEW

by Taboola

9913 Fewer Prisoners Doesnrsquot Mean US Is Becoming Soft on Crime | National Review Online

wwwnationalreviewcomcorner357860fewer-prisoners-doesnt-mean-us-becoming-soft-crime-vikrant-p-reddy-marc-levin 45

1 comment

Leave a message

Newest Community ⤤Share

Reply

George Pepper bull 3 days ago

Im so glad you used drug laws as an example because drug laws are nothing

more than a bonanza for shysters and the prison-industrial complex Idjits

1

Com m ent feedr Subs cribe via em ai l

0

Share rsaquo

9913 Fewer Prisoners Doesnrsquot Mean US Is Becoming Soft on Crime | National Review Online

wwwnationalreviewcomcorner357860fewer-prisoners-doesnt-mean-us-becoming-soft-crime-vikrant-p-reddy-marc-levin 55

copy National Review Online 2013 All Rights Reserved

Home | NR Digital Home | Donate | Media Kit | Site Problems | View Mobile Site | Site Problems | Contact Us | Privacy Policy