Publications -- Crime

Mar 01, 1999

ST #223 – Suing Gun Manufacturers: Hazardous to Our Health

The lawsuits against gun manufacturers are not just bad public policy, they are also dubious as matters of law. The courts have recognized that firearms are no different from many other potentially dangerous products and have consistently held that legislatures should decide whether guns should be legal and widely available.

Sep 24, 1998

ST #219 – Crime and Punishment in America: 1998

Serious crime in the United States soared to alarming heights beginning in the 1960s, but began leveling off in the 1980s and has declined by one-third during the 1990s. Every category of violent crime has decreased since 1993. Last year, serious crime reported to the police was only 5 percent above the rates for 1970, and in many cities across the country, it matched the crime rates of the 1960s.

Sep 04, 1998

BA #278 – Europe's Underground Economies

The underground economy also known as the second economy, parallel economy, unofficial economy, informal economy or just the black market is a phenomenon known throughout the world. It exists wherever governments excessively tax or unreasonably regulate economic activity. Although the underground economy also includes criminal activity, such as drug dealing, the overwhelming bulk of it consists of the provision of ordinary goods and services that in other times and other places would be perfectly legal and legitimate.

Aug 17, 1998

BG #148 – Does Punishment Deter?

What explains the sudden decline in crime after a long rise? Better economic conditions? Cultural changes? A more convincing explanation is at hand: Courts have been handing out tougher punishment for crime, and potential criminals know and fear it.

Aug 01, 1998

ST #218 – Handcuffing the Cops: Miranda's Harmful Effects on Law Enforcement

The U.S. Supreme Court's 1966 decision in Miranda v. Arizona created a series of procedural requirements that law enforcement officials must follow before questioning suspects in custody. Miranda has, as its critics charge, "handcuffed the cops." It is time to consider removing these shackles and regulating police interrogation in less costly ways.

Nov 17, 1997

BA #247 – Crime Is Down Because Punishment Is Up

The amount of serious crime has decreased in most towns and cities across the country. New York City, for example, had fewer than 1,000 murders in 1996, the lowest number in nearly 30 years. Overall crime has dropped by half in Houston during the past six years, and violent crimes there are down by two-thirds.

Nov 17, 1997

BA #246 – No Smoking Guns: Answering Objections to Right-to-Carry Laws

Since 1986 the number of states in which it is legal to carry concealed weapons has grown from nine to 31, representing 49 percent of the country's population. Should we feel safer?

Nov 17, 1997

BA #245 – The Economic Impact of Prison Labor

The unemployment rate stands at 4.9 percent, the lowest since the Vietnam war. Employers looking for workers are finding that the supply of labor, even unskilled labor, is tight. However, more than a million Americans who could work - in fact, desperately need the skills that come only from real work - remain unproductive. These are our nation's prisoners.

Sep 01, 1997

ST #211 – Murder by the State

At least 170 million people - and perhaps as many as 360 million - have been murdered by their own governments in this century. This is more than four times the 42 million deaths from civil and international wars.

Sep 01, 1997

ST #209 – Crime and Punishment in America: 1997 Update

After soaring to alarming heights beginning in the 1960s, serious crime in the United States began leveling off in the 1980s and has declined for the past three years. Every category of violent crime has decreased since 1993.