Why don’t liberals think it’s imortant to push for criminal justice reform? Why is it that when the subject of, say, incarceration policy is brought up among progressives at a dinner party, most fall into a stuporous state of AWOL—Asleep With Open Lids? (And the left mostly sh
Law prof/attorney, Doug Berman, who blogs at Sentencing Law and Policy, (which is one of my daily stops), has an essay in the Harvard Law Review that talks about how progressive’s used to lead the way on issues of sentencing reform and the like, but that now they (we) are notably silent on all criminal justice issues except for the death penalty and for wrongful convictions, a la the Innocence Project.
Here are a couple of clips.
….I fear that many progressives have failed to update their reform concerns and advocacy in light of twenty-first century realities. We primarily hear progressive voices speaking out against the death penalty and lamenting wrongfulconvictions and racial disparities in criminal justice systems. Over the last decade, for example, the American Bar Association and other organizations have produced massive reports urging execution moratoriums and major reforms to the administration of capital punishment. The Innocence Project and other organizations have spotlighted common causes of wrongful convictions and have urged states to establish innocence commissions. Given the stunning and unprecedented expansion of modern American imprisonment rates, however, the problems and consequences of mass incarceration should become the new preeminent concern for progressives…Indeed, as explained below, the failure of progressives to adapt their criminal justice advocacy for modern times may indirectly contribute to the status of the United States as the world’s leader in
imprisonment.The recent Presidential election of Senator Barack Obama — the first major candidate in recent memory to criticize the harshness of modern American criminal justice systems while on the campaign trail6 — excites many about the possibility of the United States entering a new era for criminal justice law and policy. I fear, however, that this excitement for criminal justice change could be a curse rather than a blessing if progressives do not refine their policy aspirations and legal advocacy in light of twentyfirst century criminal justice realities…
Prisons and education are the twinned problems that have much to do with the health—good or ill—of our nation, socially and fiscally. Yet while education seems finally to have become a sexy topic among liberals, incarceration and sentencing have not.
It’s a willful blindness that needs to change.
Why Are Liberals Such Lousy ___(fill in the blank)___?
Hooray for you Celeste! You bring up a very interesting yet touchy subject among “Liberals†and more specifically white Liberals (although I have heard some very derogatory and discriminatory remarks come from Black and Latino’s too), on the subject of justice, prison, incarceration, and their masters, poverty and ignorance, race and economics.
I have for years been aware of the same phenomena, Liberals who reside in the more affluent areas, which in LA means the Westside and coastal areas, tend to mouth a very Liberal philosophy in general terms but on a personal and individual level live an almost segregated plantation type existence, who’s only contact with people of color is with the service class, gardeners, maids, workers in restaurants, construction remodeling, ect; and this contact takes place in their familiar home or local environment.
In LA and other major cities of the USA this segregation of the “Have’s vs. The Have Not’s†seems to produce a paranoid fear of “ people from the other side of the tracks†or City as is the case in LA. And sensational media reporting of crime and gangs and aberrant behavior on the other side of town increases this paranoia and fear in many affluent Liberals which in turn produces this siege mentality and a lock em all up “protect us from the dark people†philosophy.
Two related articles in the LA Times today underscore this segregation and fear.
“Study details the power of negative racial stereotypes
Changes in social standing such as falling below the poverty line or going to jail made people more likely to be perceived as black and less likely to be seen as white, researchers say.
By Karen Kaplan
December 9, 2008 “
And even though the Times article below points out the increasing minority integration (especially Latino and Asian), in surburbia, it’s interesting to note that the more affluent “white†areas are becoming increasingly segregated racially although they may still be “Liberal†politically .
“Census shows a Southland melting pot
By Rich Connell, Doug Smith, Teresa Watanabe
The change has been far from uniform, and balances in some communities have shifted in intriguing ways.
Liberal and pricey Santa Monica was among a handful of communities to buck the broader, deeper shifts. The waterfront city of tourism, million-dollar cottages and hip new-economy businesses was one of the few in Southern California to see its white population increase between 2000 and the middle of the decade. Now 72% white, it also was the rare community to see a decline in the number of Latino residents.â€Â
So I think Celeste brings up a very interesting situation where even though “Liberals†vote for an integrated society with an African American President at the helm, they do not,(as shown by these statistics), want to be an integral part of the society at large and instead are segregated racially and more importantly economically in their personal lives.
The disgraceful Calif Prison scandal that has been condemned internationally, and is now being threatened by a Federal Govt takeover due to the medieval and draconian conditions that exist, probably is a subject that is taboo to affluent Liberals who because of a paranoid fear (with some guilt thrown in), of the “Have Not’s†in reality support a more than vigorous Penal System that “protects†them and their segregated lifestyles.
Couldn’t agree more! The liberals really need to lead the charge on a more sensible incarceration policy. The science is definitely behind the liberal agenda. For further research I highly recommend reading the book, Crime and Punishment in America by Elliot Currie. This will give you tons of ammunition so you will no longer remain silent at those dinner parties.
Apparently too many liberals/progressives have been mugged at their local ATM machine by a gun wielding youth to have too much sympathy for the prison population.
Also, EVERYONE is for freeing innocents from prison, not just liberals/progressives. Conservatives are very much in favor of protect the innocent from the death penalty, that is why we are against killing innocent babies still in the womb.
What gavacho liberal with money would want to live with in Don Quackers ideal varrio where illegal alien street vendors are free to sell paletas, tacos and pirate videos on the sidewalk at all hours of the night and day. No gracias … even most middle class chicanos don’t want to live in a don culo vision tijuana style varrio, comprendes sr, culo?
I wonder if don culo would move into an all “mayate” hood, what do you all think.
And incarceration rates are only getting worse. The DOJ released their report today showing one in 31 U.S. adults were in prison or jail or on probation or parole in 2007. The prison number went up about 1.5 percent percent and the probation/parole number about 2.1 percent.
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/p07.htm