The evidence shows shortening the jail terms of violent criminals has been disastrous. Convicts who have been caught and released by an ineffective justice system are the single gravest threat to the lives and property of Americans.
As things now stand, crime is not a particularly risky activity.
Criminals who are incarcerated typically spend just over two years in confinement -- serving only one-third of their sentences on average.
Four out of every five state prison inmates are repeat offenders. Almost half of them are in the midst of at least their fourth sentence.
A study released in 1994 by the American Legislative Exchange Council shows that a strict incarceration policy pays off for society.
And despite anti-incarceration sentiment, the lockup practice is still low:
Policy analysts who have studied these figures are left with one response -- to keep predators away from society, build more prisons.
Source: Karl Zinsmeister (The American Enterprise), "Crimebusting Tips for Clinton," Washington Times, February 1, 1996.
Have laws banning the sale of handguns cut down on violent crime, as their advocates promised?
Here are some of the facts uncovered in studies:
Some criminologists report they cannot substantiate any difference in crime rates between states that pass gun bans and those that have not.
Studies indicate that Americans use guns of all types to defend themselves 2.5 million times each year, while guns are used in just over 500,000 crimes each year.
Source: Charles Oliver, "A New Way to Control Crime?" Investor's Business Daily, February 6, 1996.
Facts and figures about the state of violent crime and punishment in the United States explode many of the prevalent myths.
Myth: Violent crime is going down. Despite recent dips in the overall crime rate, violent crime rates remain at historic highs, and more than 10 million violent crimes were committed in 1993.
Myth: The threat of violent crime is exaggerated. An American is more than twice as likely to be a violent crime victim as to be injured in a car accident, and as likely to be murdered as to die from AIDS.
Myth: Most violent crimes against whites are committed by blacks. In 1993, only 18 percent of the 8.7 million violent crimes against whites were committed by blacks, while about 80 percent of the 1.3 violent crimes against blacks were by blacks.
Myth: Revolving door justice is rare. Barely one criminal is imprisoned for every 100 violent crimes, and about one in three violent crimes is committed by someone on probation, parole or pretrial release.
Myth: Prisons are full of first-time drug offenders. Since 1974 more than 90 percent of all state prisoners have been violent or repeat offenders. Between 1980 and 1993, the number in state prisons for violent crimes grew by 221,000, 1.3 times the growth in imprisoned drug offenders (most of whom have long criminal histories).
Myth: Persons on probation and parole pose little threat. In 1991, 45 percent of state prisoners were on probation or parole at the very time they committed their latest crimes, and while free, they committed at least 218,000 violent crimes, including 13,200 murders and 11,600 rapes.
Myth: Because of mandatory sentencing, most prisoners now do long, hard time. Despite mandatory laws, between 1985 and 1992, the average maximum sentence declined about 15 percent, from 78 months to 67 months, and in 1992, the actual time served by violent felons was 43 months.
Myth: More violent juvenile felons are being handled like adults. In 1991, about 51,000 male juveniles were held in public juvenile facilities, a third of them for violent crimes. However, in 1992 alone there were over 110,000 juvenile arrests for violent crimes.
Source: John J. DiIulio Jr. (Manhattan Institute), "Ten Truths About Crime," Weekly Standard, January 15, 1996.
Those who claim the American justice system is racist -- because, for example one-in-three black males in their 20s was in prison or on probation or parole last year -- fail to recognize the implications of the fact that the victims and perpetrators of crime are usually of the same race. Thus, any criminal-justice reform that simply eases up on black criminals will disproportionately harm the majority of law-abiding blacks.
The explosion of urban crime since the introduction of "crack" in the mid-1980s is well documented. And young blacks are the main victims of the drug's popularity.
Source: Editorial, "Race & Crime," Investor's Business Daily, February 21, 1996.
Texas has become the nation's leading importer of prisoners from other states as county jails there attempt to fill their facilities and generate additional revenue.
Texas prisons were once filled to capacity and the backlog of state prisoners was housed in county facilities awaiting transfer. Some counties expanded their staffs and issued bonds to finance new construction. The counties were compensated for holding state prisoners, with 184 Texas counties receiving $246.5 million in fiscal year 1994 and another $144 million in fiscal year 1995. However, last year, Texas completed a five-year, $2 billion building program that nearly doubled the state prison system's capacity from 75,000 to 146,000.
Sending prisoners to Texas is cheaper than constructing new prisons in some states. In fact, other states are willing to pay the counties more per prisoner than the state of Texas. Newton County, Texas, for example, receives $43 per inmate per day, nearly double the rate paid by Texas. Over two years, Virginia will pay the county about $23 million to house 735 minimum- and medium-security prisoners.
Texas state prisons are expected to fill up within two years, and the counties may be out of the interstate prison business as they again begin filling with the backlog of in-state prisoners.
Sources: Colin Strother, "For Rent: County Jail Cells," Fiscal Notes, January 1996, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts; and Sam Howe Verhovek, "Texas Caters to a Demand Around U.S. for Jail Cells," New York Times, February 9, 1996.