Smart on crime: the struggle to build a better American penal system

Abstract

Preface Acknowledgments Smart on Crime Politics Introduction Crime Politics in the American Political System Coalition Politics and Reform in the Criminal Justice Subsystem Rise of the Smart on Crime Coalition Explaining the Emergence of the Smart on Crime Coalition Policy Learning Bringing Policy Back into the Picture When Is Reform Really Reform? Collapse of the Rehabilitative Model and Rise of the Tough on Crime Coalition Calm before the Storm The Storm: The Rehabilitative Model Gets Blown Away Politicalization of Rehabilitation Research Sagging Support for Rehabilitation on the Left Building an Institutional Legacy Tough on Crime Coalition Crisis and Opportunity in the American Penal System To the Victors Go the Spoils Problems on the Ground: Consequences of the Tough on Crime Regime The Penal System and Inequality Diminishing Marginal Returns of Mass Incarceration Conditions Facilitating the Search for Alternatives and Policy Learning Economic Crisis The Contemporary Prison System Is a Different Beast Examining Changes in Public Attitudes on Crime and Punishment Fear of Crime Saliency of Crime Prisoner Reentry and the Politics of the Second Chance Act Pressure from the Bottom Up Conceptualizing Prisoner Reentry Ohio Plan Developments in Corrections Policy Research Conservatives Begin the Push for Prisoner Reentry Introduction of the SCA Prison Fellowship Ministries Fight to Protect Inmates' Religious Freedom Framing the Meaning of the SCA Correctional Associations Second Chance Advocacy in the Senate Political Progress in the House Roadblocks in the Senate Closing the Deal Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 Policy Context Challenging the Unique Dangers of Crack Cocaine Proposals for Change Legal Challenges to the Federal Sentencing Process New Proposals for Crack Sentencing Reform Mobilizing Support for Crack Sentencing Reform Texas Introduction to the Problem Environment Bringing an Engineer's Perspective to the Texas Penal System Emergence of New Organized Groups Justice Reinvestment Broad-Based Smart on Crime Coalition Texas Penal System and the Shifting Dimensions of Political Debate Appendix Ohio Diffusion of Smart on Crime Policy Ideas Ohio Seeks Technical Assistance Policy Learning among Conservatives in Ohio California Shifting Political Environment Return of the Structural Injunction Prison Realignment in California Evaluating the Smart on Crime Movement De-Incarceration and Crime Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty? References Index