News, States pull back after decades of get-tough laws. (employment, crime, education) - Politics and Other Controversies -Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Conservatives, Liberals, Third Parties, Left-Wing, Right-Wing, Congress, President - City-Data Forum

JD59 · 04-04-2009, 08:08 PM

NEW YORK - For the last four decades, the laws of the land were all about cracking down on crime by locking away criminals for a very long time.

Some carried scary names like "Three Strikes and You're Out," as in cast out of society.

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ParkTwain · 04-04-2009, 08:51 PM

What was happening was:

1. Age demographics (high % of under 25s in the overall population) led to upward "blip" in crime rate. (Most crimes are committed by those under 30?)

2. Using prison to address misbehavior that is correlated to poverty, rather than use redistributionary public policies to address those who slip through society's educational and employment cracks.