Criminal Justice POL 217
Part1) Criminal Justice and criminal law is at its heart, political. Legislators channel the public’s will into legislation that determines what is a crime and what are the appropriate punishments, elected and appointed judges interpret and apply the law, and unelected officials police and most ADA’s (although the District Attorney is elected, their staff is not), implement and enforce the law. With all of these actors and roles, it can be difficult to interpret the public’s will and true desires and to find the right balance between public safety and justice (not being overly punitive). Many times, legislators and policy makers think they understand that what the public wants, but face backlash, often because of public fears of crime that are often distorted or amplified by the media. 2020 is a prime example of this dynamic. Decades of pressure from reform advocates culminated in the Criminal Justice Reform Act of 2019 in New York State that changed bail, discovery and speedy trial (we covered this previously.) While advocates were pleased, there was almost immediate backlash from police, many prosecutors offices, and conservative opponents who argued that this would affect public safety. COVID-19 early releases and the protests and crime spike this summer exacerbated public concerns over public safety and criminal justice reform, particularly bail reform. Read the following articles and provide your comments on this issue.
https://theintercept.com/2020/02/23/criminal-justice-bail-reform-backlash-new-york/
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/new-yorks-latest-bail-law-changes-explained
https://theappeal.org/andrew-cuomo-promised-criminal-justice-reforms-but-new-york-is-still-waiting/
Was the legislature right to implement criminal justice reform?
What are the political dynamics at play?
Which forces oppose the reforms and why?
Is there really a crime epidemic resulting from this reform, or is this simply hysteria by those forces in law enforcement and conservatives that were hostile to bail and other reforms?
What role does media and tabloids (NYPost, NYDaily News) have in amplifying public fears about reform?
Should the NYS Legislator abandon its reforms and cave to public pressure, or ignore public pressure and give the reforms more time ?
Part 2) Incarceration as Incapacitation
Read Incarceration as Incapacitation: An Intellectual History and summarize the main points. Who is the author responding to? What evidence do they use to support their claims? Do you agree with them or disagree with them?
https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2018/08/incarceration-as-incapacitation-an-intellectual-history/
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