Is mass incarceration a myth?
Fox News
Some legal experts believe that many myths surrounding mass incarceration have been intentionally created by those who oppose not only incarceration, but punishment in general.
John Mac Ghlionn is a researcher and essayist. He covers psychology and social relations. His writing appears in the New York Post and Newsweek. @ghlionn
As the paper, authored by two University of Pennsylvania law professors, notes, the prevailing belief is that the significant rise in America's prison population since the 1960s can be attributed almost entirely to excessive and unjust punishment. However, as they show, this explanation fails to consider the various factors unrelated to sentencing that have contributed to the increase in incarceration.
These factors include a nearly doubled U.S. population, higher crime rates, improved effectiveness of the justice system, the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill, the introduction of new and stricter criminal laws, worsening criminal histories of offenders, and more.
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