harsher criminal sentencing the connection between the “tough on crime” stance and the Civil Rights Movement the rise of the law and order politician
Explaining the prison boom
harsher criminal sentencing the connection between the “tough on crime” stance and the Civil Rights Movement the rise of the law and order politician
Harsher criminal sentencing
Prison boom due to increasing crime? Not mostly. Most
of the prison boom cannot be explained by rising crime rates. overall
crime rates remained the same or decreased violent crime fell between 1990 and 2001
Harsher criminal sentencing
Prison boom due to change in sentencing policies? Yes. incarceration
rates rose between 1980 and 1996
12%
was driven by increases in the crime rate 80% was caused by changes in sentencing policies
crime was punished more harshly (see next slide) more arrests the chances a suspect would be arrested for violent crime doubled between 1990 and 2001
Harsher criminal sentencing
Parole was limited severely or abolished entirely Mandatory minimum sentences were enforced Three strikes laws California’s
1994 three strikes law mandated life in prison for the third offense, even for nonviolent crimes such as minor fraud and drug possession By 2000, 24 states had adopted three strikes laws similar to California’s
Explaining the prison boom
harsher criminal sentencing the connection between the “tough on crime” stance and the Civil Rights Movement the rise of the law and order politician
the connection between the “tough on crime” stance and the Civil Rights Movement
It is no coincidence that the prison boom began shortly after the main thrust of the civil rights movement came to an end
the connection between the “tough on crime” stance and the Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement made many whites uneasy This unease intensified as legalized racial segregation fell, causing whites to cross paths more frequently with nonwhites, and peaked during the racial uprisings of the late 1960s.
the connection between the “tough on crime” stance and the Civil Rights Movement
white backlash against the civil rights movement Perhaps
the primary, if unspoken, intent of law and order policies was to repress the civil rights movement, especially potential rioters.
As for the more overt motives – to decrease crime and the distribution of drugs – law and order policies had only a trivial effect.
Explaining the prison boom
harsher criminal sentencing the connection between the “tough on crime” stance and the Civil Rights Movement the rise of the law and order politician
Creating the crime problem
The Republican Party, beginning with Goldwater’s 1964 presidential bid, started to focus on crime is a central issue
Opinion polls from the mid-1960s show that most Americans did not list crime is among the nation’s most pressing concerns.
the Vietnam War and civil rights were what occupied most Americans mind at the time
The Republican Party latched onto an issue that before had been only a marginal concern to most Americans. In doing so, it helped to create America’s “crime problem.”
Civil disobedience seen as violence
violence in the streets as code for civil disobedience Unlike
many African-Americans, most white Americans did not understand the uprisings as political acts against demoralizing ghetto conditions but as criminal acts of vandalism and violence. Often, when Republican politicians mentioned “violence in the streets,” they were not speaking of muggings or assault, but were using coded language to decry civil disobedience tactics of civil rights activists.
Republican presidents
Richard Nixon
Ronald Reagan
Richard Nixon launched a “war on crime” to protect Americans from those who “increasingly threaten our cities, our homes, and our lives.” Ronald Reagan followed by initiating a “war on drugs” (see slides on war on drugs)
George H. W, Bush
George H. W. Bush won the White House after exposing his opponent, Michael Dukakis, as “soft on crime”
Democratic president Clinton
Once this frame took root in public thought, it became virtually impossible for candidates – Democrats included – to get elected to public office without promising to crack down on crime Clinton President
Clinton became an avid supporter of three strikes laws, and his Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 allocated nearly $10 billion for the construction of new prisons and mandated life sentences for third time offenders.
