Criminal justice reform in the United States

Criminal justice reform in the United States is a type of reform aimed at fixing perceived errors in the criminal justice system. Goals of such reform include decreasing the United States' prison population[1] and reducing prison sentences and eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for low-level drug offenders.[2] Although originally a mainly liberal cause, the criminal justice reform movement has attracted support from members of the Republican Party beginning in the early 2010s.[3][4] This has led to a significant amount of bipartisan agreement among American politicians in favor of criminal justice reform, making it one of few issues on which many politicians from both the Democratic and Republican parties agree.[2]

Arguments

Arguments that have been advanced in support of criminal justice reform include that the prison population of the United States costs about $80 billion per year to maintain.[5] Supporters of this type of reform also argue that the War on Drugs has been a failure.[5] Conservatives who support criminal justice reform are also often concerned about the fiscal and moral impacts of mass incarceration.[4]

Reforms

In 2015 a number of reformers, including the ACLU, the Center for American Progress, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, Koch family foundations, the Coalition for Public Safety, and the MacArthur Foundation, announced a bipartisan resolution to reform the criminal justice system in the United States. Their efforts were lauded by President Obama who noted these reforms will improve rehabilitation and workforce opportunities for those who have served their sentences.[6][7][8][9][10]

Criticism

The proposed reforms have been criticized by some who claim the reforms are driven primarily by cost benefit analysis and recidivism, not a concern for justice and human rights, including sociologist Marie Gottschalk, who stated "cost-benefit analysis is one of the principal tools of the neoliberal politics on which the carceral state is founded."[11]

Britain

In 2016, it was reported that Britain was considering reforming its own criminal justice system in similar ways that Texas had done so in recent years.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Eaglin, Jessica (28 February 2015). "It's time for Congress to be bold on criminal justice reform". MSNBC. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  2. 1 2 Cole, David (4 December 2014). "The Disgrace of Our Criminal Justice". New York Review of Books. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  3. ↑ Dagan, David (November–December 2012). "The Conservative War on Prisons". Washington Monthly. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  4. 1 2 Khan, Naureen (28 February 2015). "Criminal justice reform finds new champions, on the right". Al Jazeera America. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  5. 1 2 Heuvel, Katrina Vanden (18 November 2014). "The moral and political case for reforming the criminal justice system". Washington Post. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  6. ↑ Mak, Tim (Jan 13, 2015). "Koch Bros to Bankroll Prison Reform". The Daily Beast.
  7. ↑ "Koch brothers join Obama in advocating US prison reform". Russian Today. Jul 17, 2015.
  8. ↑ Horwitz, Sari (Aug 15, 2015). "Unlikely Allies". Washington Post.
  9. ↑ Gass Henry (Oct 20, 2015). "Congress's big, bipartisan success that might be just beginning". Christian Science Monitor.
  10. ↑ Nelson, Colleen Mccain; Fields, Gary (Jul 16, 2015). "Obama, Koch Brothers in Unlikely Alliance to Overhaul Criminal Justice". Wall Street Journal.
  11. ↑ Gottschalk, Marie (June 8, 2015). "The Folly of Neoliberal Prison Reform". Boston Review.
  12. ↑ Gass, Henry (20 May 2016). "America's newest export: criminal justice reform". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
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