Decarceration: State Prison Closings

Marc Mauer and the good people at The Sentencing Project just came out with their latest report on decarceration.  Since the late 1960s this country has seen the number of people incarcerated increase from about 200,000 to 2.4 million, placing the US. on top of the world in both pure numbers of people it locks away and in the rate (per 100,000).  Most of this increase had to do with tougher drug penalties, as well as tougher penalties for things like parole violation.  It's also due to a greater number of people being sent to prison for offenses that would not have landed them in prison before, as well as a greater number of people staying behind bars for longer periods of time.  See the chart below,

In Keeping with the Spirit of the Season

As we celebrate this debt ceiling raising season...courtesy of the folks at Crooks and Liars.

btw, "Who's Your Baghdaddy" sounds hilarious.

Wow....nice.

NJ Governor Chris Christie on his appointment of Sohail Mohammed to the State Bench.

Check out the video.  He's answering questions at a press conference....tears it up.

Media Bloggers Association

I came across this in some of the research I'm doing and thought it'd be worth making available.  It's called the Media Bloggers Association.  Some of you may already know about it, but it looks like they offer useful information for bloggers, especially those who write about issues that could get them sued.

I cut and pasted the text from their About Us page, see below:

Distractions: Casey Anthony and Episodic Crime News

So, everyone's been talking lately about the Casey Anthony case.  I don't know much at all about this case, nor do I care.  I actually see stories like this as distractions.  Sociologists who study crime in the media (especially the news) note that most crime reports focus on the actual event, such as the specific crime, victims, some demographic--"there were shots fired at x street at y time of the night, one victim taken to the hospital").  Others, though many fewer, might focus on the court case, and the specifics of the everyday activities within the court room.

The Disappearing Middle Class

Here's a neat visual art piece using some of Senator Bernie Sanders' remarks on greed among the wealthy and the disappearing middle and working classes, courtesy of Crooks and Liars.

Times-Picayune Op-Ed on Reducing Violent Crime in the City

Here's an op-ed I submitted to the TP this morning in reference to yesterday's (July 5th) front page story "Why the Disparity" by Michelle Krupa.  My op-ed focuses on the crime fighting strategy that Mr. James Carter is adopting.  It's nice to see someone actually draw on the empirical research to guide solutions to violent crime.  Who knows if they'll publish it, but here it is.