Lawmakers across the United States are retreating on criminal justice reforms, moving back toward a “tough on crime,” according to an article in USA Today. These rollbacks range from repealing voter approved drug decriminalization laws to lessening parole and early release opportunities.
Politicians from Louisiana, Oregon, California, and Washington D.C., are blaming criminal justice reforms for what governor of Louisiana Jeff Landry described as “rampant crime.”
In the 1980s, politicians began a wave of tough-on-crime legislation. The policies resulted in a massive increase in imprisonment rates, an expansion in the building of prisons, and a rise in racial and social inequality within the criminal justice system. The article quotes a 2010 congressional report that found that “by 2007, one of every 31 adults was under the authority of the correctional system.”
Even before the murder of George Floyd shed light on the issue and initiated an influx of criminal justice reforms, 30 states had passed laws to reduce prison populations between 2007 and 2017, the story reported.
That included Louisiana. But Governor Landry signed 19 bills into law last week moving in a different direction, reducing opportunities for parole and early release and expanding methods of execution for the death penalty.
Elsewhere, in San Francisco, two new propositions passed recently that gave more power to the police and require addiction treatment for those receiving welfare. In Oregon, the House repealed a 2020 voter-approved policy decriminalizing drug posession. And in Washington D.C., a new bill changed legal definitions of carjacking and “organized retail theft” to enable easier and more extensive prosecution and detention for those awaiting trial.
“It’s a stunning turnabout, especially so soon after the wave of national protests against the system for being too harsh,” President of the Council on Criminal Justice Adam Gelb told USA Today.
Gelb said some of the recent policies intend to send a message, rather than actually reducing crime, since even if statistics show crimes are trending downward, that may not make people feel safer.
“Most people aren’t fluent in the statistics, but they know what they see and hear on the street, from friends and social media,” he said.
