From Inquest:
As the movement against mass criminalization continues apace, the “evidence-based paradigm” (EBP) for criminal justice reform has become increasingly influential. By “evidence-based paradigm,” I mean a “data-driven” approach to criminal legal reform in which researchers like myself aim to identify “what works” in the quest for decarceration.
We can trace the origins of EBP back to the dramatic increases in U.S. criminalization and related fiscal costs in the late twentieth century. When the 2008 recession imposed new fiscal strains for state and local governments, policymakers were increasingly receptive to cost-cutting reforms. To that end, criminologists partnered with criminal legal agencies to downsize prisons and reduce recidivism (though economists have become comparatively more influential as of late).
While EBP proponents can claim partial credit for prison population declines in the early 2010s, it seems fair to say that the movement’s primary interest has been the cost effectiveness of criminalization. One 2017 report on EBP from the American Enterprise Institute calls for “a more efficient and cost-effective system that does more with less or, more precisely, more with the same amount.” I would not be the first to point out that this aspiration could increase the scope of the system instead of shrinking it. Continue reading >>>
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