Noticing the (inevitable?) contentions that the right people are in prison and the wrong people are getting out
At a time of considerable excitement about a range of criminal justice reforms (including leading Prez candidates seeking to outdo each other with ambitious reform proposals), and with the mainstream press giving coverage to many important human (and human-interest) stories surrounding the release of prisoners with the implementation of the FIRST STEP Act, it can be all too easy to forget that not everyone sees a need for criminal justice reform and not everyone is excited to see people released from prison. These pieces caught my eye in recent days as providing useful examples that there are still plenty of folks eager to contend that the right people are in prison and the wrong people are getting out:
From the City Journal by Rafael Mangual, “Everything You Don’t Know About Mass Incarceration: Contrary to the popular narrative, most American prisoners belong behind bars.”
From the Conservative Review by Daniel Horowitz, “Well, well: Criminal justice ‘reform’ wasn’t about ‘non-violent’ offenders after all“
From Fox News by Gregg Re, “Exclusive: Violent criminals and sex offenders released early due to ‘First Step Act’ legislation“
Some of these pieces are more responsible than others (e.g., the Fox News piece is particularly ugly for making much of the fact that all types of prisoners got the benefit of the “good time fix” that became effective last week). But all of these pieces highlight the kind of rhetoric and reasoning that it seems will be an inevitably enduring part of criminal justice conversations.
UPDATE: I have now seen these two notable responses to the last of the pieces noted above:
From Reason by C.J. Ciaramella, “Tucker Carlson’s Unhinged Rant Against Prison Reform Makes Us All Dumber: Carlson claims the law ‘allowed hundreds of violent criminals’ back on the street. Here’s what he didn’t tell you.”
From the Washington Examiner by Derek Cohen, “Tucker Carlson and John Kennedy get the First Step Act all wrong“