The Politics of Crime Control: Implications of Reagan Administration Pronouncements on Crime

James O. Finckenauer , "Crime as a National Political Issue, 1964-76: From Law and Order to Domestic Tranquality," Crime and Delinquency , Vol. 24 (1978), p. 13. See also Harry E. Allen , "Criminology, Crime Policy and Corrections : The Conservative Coup" ( Paper presented at the symposium on issues in criminology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia , April 2, 1982).

Ibid, p. 19. See also Samuel Walker , "Re-examining the Presidents' Crime Commission ," Crime and Delinquency, vol. 24 (1978), pp. 1-12.

The Twentieth Century Fund Task Force on the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, Law Enforcement The Federal Role ( New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976).

In an oft-quoted pronouncement on crime, Jimmy Carter stated, "I see no reason why big shot crooks should go free while the poor ones go to jail." This theme, of course, fit Carter's image as a Populist who was attempting to use the powers of his office to protect the citizenry from the abuses of big business.

The sources for this analysis are: "Reagan Advisor Edwin Meese Enunciates Administration's Crime Control Goals," Criminal Justice Newsletter, Vol. 12, no. 10 (1981), p. 15;

" Excerpts from President's Address on Program for Fighting Crime in the U.S , " New York Times, (Sept. 29, 1981), p. A18;

U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General's Task Force on Violent Crime Final Report (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1981).

Herbert L. Packer, The Limits of the Criminal Sanction (Stanford: Standford University Press, 1968).

Walter B. Miller , "Ideology and Criminal Justice Policy: Some Current Issues," Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, vol. 64 (1973), pp. 141-162.

New York Times, p. A18.

Robort K. Merton , Social Theory and Social Structure (Glenoe, Illinois: Free Press, 1957).

LEAA spending was also a target of Administration criticisms in this area. Although he supported the funding of the career criminal prosecution program and hardware, equipment and materials for police departments, Reagan advisor Edwin Meese remarked to a meeting of the PROMIS Users Group in Washington, D. C. that a lot of LEAA money was wasted because it "motivated a lot of social programs; so-called crime prevention programs that could never have made it on their own in the competition for local funds." According to Meese, the only result was that these funds lined the pockets of social workers and management consultants. Criminal Justice Newsletter, vol. 12, no. 10 (1981), p. 4.

Attorney General's Tash Force on Violent Crime.

Vera Institute of Justice , Programs in Criminal Reform Vera Institute of Justice Ten Year Report, 1961-1971 (New York: 1972).

Chris W. Eskridge, An Empirical Study of Failure to Appear Rates Among Accused Offenders: Construction and Validation of a Prediction Scale (Ohio State University: unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, 1978).

Vera Institute of Justice , Felony Arrests: Their Prosecution and Disposition in New York City's Courts ( New York: 1977).

Peter W. Greenwood , et. al., Prosecution of Adult Felony Defendants in Los Angeles County: A Policy Perspective (Washington, D.C. : Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, 1973).

Peter W. Lewis and Harry E. Allen , "Participating Miranda: An Attempt to Subvert Certain Constitutional Safeguards," Crime and Delinquency , vol. 23 (1977), pp. 75-80.

See also: R.J. Medalie , et. al., "Custodial Police Interrogation in Our Nation's Capital: The attempt to Implement Miranda," Michigan Law Review, vol. 66 (1968). pp. 1347-1422 ;

M.S. Wald , et. al., "Interrogations in New Haven: The Impact of Miranda," Yale Law Journal, vol. 76 (1966 ), pp. 1521-1648.

Abraham S. Blumberg , "The Practice of Law as a Confidence Game: Organizational Cooptation of a Profession,: Law and Society Review, vol. 1 (1967), pp. 15-39.

Finckenauer, ',Crime as a National Political Issue."

National Crime Survey Report, Criminal Victimization in the United States 1978 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, 1980), p. 45.

State of California, Department of Justice , Adult Felony Arrest Dispositions in California (Sacramento, CA: Division of Law Enforcement , 1980), p. 42.

The California figures were utilized because it is one of the few states which analyzes its crime data through the use of offender based transaction statistics. Without this type of system, analysis by racial categories is virtually impossible.

Scott Christiansen , "Our Black Prisons," Crime and Delinquency, Vol 27 ( 1981), p. 366.

See also: Frank M. Dunbaugh , "Racially Disproportionate Rates of Incarceration in the Unites States ," Prison Law Monitor, vol. 1 (1979), pp. 205-208. This apparent racial disproportionality extends to the use of the death penalty as well. Analysis of four states (Florida, Georgia, Texas and Ohio) since the Furman decision through 1977 by Bowers and Pierce revealed that blacks who killed whites were most likely to receive the death penalty while whites who killed blacks had virtually no chance of being sentenced to death.

William J. Bowers and Glenn L. Pierce , "Arbitrariness and Discrimination under Post-Furman Capital Statutes ," Crime and Delinquency, vol. 26 (1980), pp. 563-635.

Joan Petersilia, Peter W. Greenwood and Marvin Lavin, Criminal Careers of Habitual Felons (Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation, 1977).

"Fullman Gives Probation in Bank Embezzlement Case," (Dec. 1, 1981), The Philadelphia Inquirer, p. 1A. Reiman cities a U.S. Chamber of Commerce report that, in 1974, white collar crimes caused an estimated $41.78 billion in damage. Jeffrey H. Reiman, The Rich Get Richer and The Poor Get Prison (New York: John Wiley, 1979), p. 107.

Raymond Michaelowski , "The Politics of the Right," Crime and Social Justice, vol. 15 (Summer 1981), pp. 29-35.

Culman McCarthy , "Crime is a Matter of Class," (Oct. 8, 1981), The Philadelphia Inquirer, p. 15A.

James Q. Wilson, Thinking About Crime (New York: Basic Books, 1975).

Joan Petersilia and Peter W. Greenwood , "Mandatory Prison Sentences: Their Projected Effects on Crime and Prison Populations," Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, vol. 69 (1978), pp. 604-615.

Ralph Gardener, Jr. , "Prison Population Jumps to 369, 725," Corrections Magazine, vol. 8 (June 1982), pp. 6-14. One of the key elements of determinate sentencing which was lost in the implementation translation was the recognition that incarceration should be used as a last resort. Implicit in this thinking was the premise that prison should be used exclusively with violent offenders and that other sanctions would be used with the bulk of offenders. The hope was that such a policy could actually reduce the size of the prison population.

For a full treatment, see: David F. Greenberg , and Drew Humphries , "The Cooptation of Fixed Sentencing Reform," Crime and Delinquency, vol. 26 (1980), pp. 206-225.

Lee-Jan Jan , "Overcrowding and Inmate Behavior: Some Preliminary Findings," Criminal Justice and Behavior, vol. 7 (1980), pp. 293-301.

See also Peter Nacci, H. Teilelbaum and J. Prother , "Population Density and Disruptive Behavior in a Prison Setting," Federal Probation , vol. 41 (1977), pp. 26-31.

Paul Pailus , Gavin McCain and Verne Cox , "Prison Standards: Some Pertinent Data on Crowding," Federal Probation, vol. 45, no. 4 (December 1981), pp. 48-54.

Edwin W. Meese , Banquet Address to members of the American Society of Criminology, Washington, D.C., November 12, 1981.

S. David Hicks , The Corrections Yearbook ( New York: Criminal Justice Institute, 1981), p. 27.

Neil M. Singer , "The Value of Inmate Manpower," Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, vol. 13 (1976), pp. 3-12.

Hicks, Yearbook , p. 26.

Daniel Glaser , "The Counterproductivity of Conservative Thinking About Crime," Criminology, vol. 16 (1978), p. 220.

Gennaro F. Vito and Edward J. Latessa , "Cost Analysis in Probation Research: An Evaluation Synthesis," Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, vol. 1 (1979), pp. 3-7.

Gennaro F. Vito and Harry E. Allen , "Shock Probation in Ohio: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis, Chitty's Law Journal, vol. 27 ( 1979), pp. 347-355.

See also C.M. Gray , C.J. Conover and T.M. Hennesey , "Cost Effectiveness of Residential Community Corrections: An Analytical Prototype," Evaluation Quarterly vol. 2 (1978), pp. 375-400.

Petersilia , et al., Criminal Careers, pp. 56-57.

Michael Fedo , "Free Enterprise Goes to Prison," Corrections Magazine , vol. 7 (1981), pp. 5-15.

Charles M. Gray , "The Assessment of Costs in the Criminal Justice System," in B. Galaway and J. Hudson (eds.) Perspectives on Crime Victims ( St. Louis: C.V. Mosley, 1981), pp. 73-79.

Dorothy Edmonds McKnight , "The Victim Offender Reconciliation Project," in B. Galaway and J. Hudson (eds.) Perspectives on Crime Victims ( St. Louis: C.V. Mosely, 1981), pp. 292-299.

See also: Alan T. Harland , Restitution to Victims of Personal and Household Crimes ( Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1981).

E. Kim Nelson , Howard Ornart and Nora Harlow , Promising Strategies in Probation and Parole (Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, 1978 ); M. Kay Harris , Sentencing to Community Service ( Washington, D.C.: American Bar Associaiton, 1979).

John P. Kenney, Gennaro F. Vito and Dennis R. Longmire , The Orange County Crime Reduction Program. Final Report (Long Beach, CA: California State University Department of Criminal Justice, 1981), p. 43. See also: John Blackmore , "Focusing on the Victim," Police Magazine, vol. 2 (1979), pp. 24-33.

Edward J. Latessa and Harry E. Allen , "Using Citizens to Prevent Crime: An Example of Deterrence and Community Involvement," Journal of Police Science and Administration, vol. 8 (1980), pp. 69-74.

Dennis R. Longmire , "A Popular Justice System: A Radical Alternative to the Traditional Criminal Justice System," Contemporary Crisis, vol. 5 (1981), pp. 15-30.