Mass incarceration: A new theory for why so many Americans are in prison

Re:Mass incarceration: A new theory for why so many American... by roc on Friday October 02, 2015 @10:02AM (#10318560)

What I wonder is how many people were originally detained/investigated because of the WoD, but arrested/prosecuted for the non-drug offenses. (i.e. resisting, gambling, tax evasion, etc.)

Unless you know why these people were in front of the cops to begin with, you can't speak to whether any given policy change will or won't affect arrest or imprisonment rates.

e.g. Stop-and-Frisk is a War on Terror policy, but regularly results in weapons and drug charges. Are the people ultimately sentenced for those offenses in prison because of weapon or drug laws, or anti-terror laws?

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Re:Mass incarceration: A new theory for why so many American... by rayiner on Friday October 02, 2015 @10:04AM (#10318582)

Stop and Frisk is not a war on terror policy. It's a "New York used to be Gotham City in the 1990's"-era policy.

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Re:Mass incarceration: A new theory for why so many American... by roc on Friday October 02, 2015 @10:29AM (#10318759)

Fair enough. Yet the question remains: can you meaningfully lower arrests/convictions that resulted from stop-and-frisk, by changing the laws regarding the particular charges that are brought? If it's about a 'fishing expedition', then decriminalizing marijuana might dramatically drop drug charges, but not move net arrests much, as officers simply find something else.

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Re:Mass incarceration: A new theory for why so many American... by happyscrappy on Friday October 02, 2015 @10:23AM (#10318716)

NY was Gotham City. Why is there so much animosity for the 'Broken Windows' policy when it clearly worked?

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Re:Mass incarceration: A new theory for why so many American... by roc on Friday October 02, 2015 @10:34AM (#10318803)

Because cities without New York's policies saw the same drop in crime?

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Re:Mass incarceration: A new theory for why so many American... by PhantomGremlin on Friday October 02, 2015 @10:41PM (#10322394)

How about quality of life???

Rudy Giuliani got rid of all the annoying squeegee men that loved to shake down vehicular traffic. But now ... they're baaackkk "terrorizing city streets"!

http://nypost.com/2014/08/07/squeegee-men-are-back-and-terro... http://nypost.com/2015/07/19/squeegee-man-is-citys-latest-bl... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squeegee_man

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Re:Mass incarceration: A new theory for why so many American... by happyscrappy on Friday October 02, 2015 @10:35AM (#10318812)

Chicago?

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Re:Mass incarceration: A new theory for why so many American... by tptacek on Friday October 02, 2015 @11:56AM (#10319332)

The crime rate in Chicago dropped sharply. Chicago did not employ "broken windows" policing.

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Re:Mass incarceration: A new theory for why so many American... by roc on Friday October 02, 2015 @11:32AM (#10319170)

I'm guessing you're talking about the recent spike in shootings? That spike has a long way to go to reach the peaks of the 70s and 90s.

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Re:Mass incarceration: A new theory for why so many American... by ecopoesis on Friday October 02, 2015 @11:27AM (#10319130)

Because there is no proof that 'Broken Windows' worked. Crime has declined since the 90s in all major American cities: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-imprisoners-dilemma/

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