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Bi-Weekly Discussion - Crime & Punishment

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Brian B.
Bi-Weekly Discussion - Crime & Punishment

Details

We're currently hosting our discussions at Café Walnut, near the corner of 7th & Walnut in Olde City, just across the street from Washington Square Park. The cafe's entrance is below street level down some stairs, which can be confusing if it's your first time. Our group meets in the large room upstairs.

Since we're using the cafe's space, they ask that each person attending the meetup at least purchase a drink or snack. Please don't bring any food or drinks from outside. If you're hungry enough to eat a meal, they have more substantial fare such as salads, soups & sandwiches which are pretty good and their prices are reasonable.

The cafe is fairly easy to get to if you're using public transit. With SEPTA, take the Market-Frankford Line & get off at the 5th Street Station (corner of 5th & Market), and walk 2 blocks south on 5th and then turn right on Walnut Street and walk 2 blocks west. With PATCO, just get off at the 9th-10th & Locust stop and walk 3 blocks east & 1 block north. For those who are driving, parking in the neighborhood can be tough to find. If you can't find a spot on the street, I'd suggest parking in the Washington Square parking deck at 249 S 6th Street which is just a half block away.

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CRIME & THEORIES OF PUNISHMENT:
HOW SHOULD OUR SOCIETY HANDLE THOSE WHO BREAK THE LAW?

INTRODUCTION:

This meetup will try to provide an introduction to some of the basic questions we need to answer in order to understand the criminal justice system:
(1) How do psychology & political science help explain why people differ in their intuitive views of crime & punishment, and how does this translate into political pressure that influences legislators?
(2) How do moral & legal philosophy explain the rationales behind the various theories of punishment & how do they draw the line between just & unjust punishments?
(3) What evidence is there to suggest "tough on crime" policies like the death penalty & long prison sentences are effective at deterring crime, or at least at preventing recidivism?
(4) What evidence is there to suggest "softer" approaches that focus on rehabilitation & "restorative justice" are effective in preventing the high economic & social costs of mass incarceration while also reducing recidivism?

BASIC FACTS & TRENDS IN THE INCARCERATION RATE IN THE U.S.

Before we dive into the various debates about America's criminal justice system, it would help if everyone has a grasp of the basic facts about trends in both the crime rate & the incarceration rate in the U.S. Wikipedia provides a decent overview:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_the_United_States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States

Crime rates fluctuated dramatically throughout the 20th century. Since changes in the classifications of crimes and problems with reporting cloud a lot of the data on crime rates, it's often helpful to use the homicide rate as a rough proxy for the violent crime rate. In the first decade of the 20th century, the homicide rate was fairly low around 5 per 100K, but it when shot up during the 1920s perhaps due to gang violence brought on by bootlegging during Prohibition. By 1933, the homicide rate was around 9.5 per 100K, but Prohibition was repealed that year and the rate fell dramatically in subsequent years, reaching a low of about 5 per 100K again in 1943. Crime stayed low during the 1950s; however, despite the economic prosperity of the 1960s, the homicide rate began to rise and by 1970 it was back around 6.5. per 100K and over 10 per 100K by 1973. The homicide rate stayed between 8-10 per 100K through the 1970s & 1980s during the "crack epidemic", but it began to drop dramatically after 1993. By 2000, the homicide rate was below 6 per 100K and by 2010 it was at historic lows of around 5 per 100K. Despite a brief spike in homicide during 2015-16, the rate still hasn't risen above 6 per 100K.

Incarceration rates in the 20th century did not experience nearly as many rises and falls. Despite the dramatic rise in crime during Prohibition, the incarceration rate merely rose from 150 per 100K in 1925 to 250 per 100K in 1939. The rate fell back to around 200 per 100K by 1945 and stayed at about that level throughout the 1950s and didn't see much of a rise until around 1975 despite the increase in crime rates. However, the incarceration rate rose to around 300 per 100K by 1980 and then shot up dramatically, reaching a peak of around 900 per 100K in 1999 even as the crime rate dropped. Since then, the incarceration rate has remained high, fluctuating between 900 & 1000 per 100K in the 2000s. There was a political push for criminal justice reform during the second term of Obama's presidency. These efforts partly payed off, so that by 2016 the incarceration rate was at a 20-year low of around 860 per 100K. Nevertheless, the U.S. incarceration rate remains quite high by the standards of the early to mid 20th century and is still the highest by far in the developed world.

RELEVANT MATERIAL FROM PAST MEETUPS:

Back in April, we had a meetup on gun homicides in America where we addressed some of the common misconceptions that people have when they try to parse the statistics presented in the news media. This task is made difficult both by the general public's poor understanding of statistics and the frequent "massaging" of statistics by both sides in the gun control debate to try to fit them into their preferred narrative. One of the points we discussed then which is relevant to today's discussion on incarceration is that most of the violent crime tends to be committed by a very small percentage of repeat offenders, and even low-income urban neighborhoods with lots of risk factors become much safer if "hot spot policing" focuses on removing these career criminals. To find out more about the research behind that, you can check out the discussion outline for the gun violence meetup at the following link:
https://www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Political-Agnostics/events/249126047/

Also, back in October of 2017, we had a meetup where we explored theories about how "honor cultures" among white Southern males, African-American males & Hispanic males may contribute to violent crime, and we contrasted these cultural theories with socio-economic theories that try to explain crime as the result of social inequality & concentrated poverty. To the extent that crime is the result not of a momentary lapse of judgement but rather from a dysfunctional cultural milieu or difficult socio-economic conditions, this may impact your view of the potential for rehabilitation in today's discussion. You can review the outline for that discussion at the following link:
https://www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Political-Agnostics/events/zgmddnywmbwb/

Lastly, back in April of this year, the Skeptics in the Pub had a meetup where they examined the data on racial bias in police use of force incidents in the U.S. Two of the basic takeaways was that the data collection & aggregation on police use of force isn't very comprehensive, and as with the statistics on gun violence there is a lot of dishonest "massaging" of statistics -- in this case, to either support or counter the charges of systematic racism by police depending on the ideological biases of the journalists & pundits telling the story. You can find the discussion outline for that meetup here:
https://www.meetup.com/Philly-Skeptics/events/249125196/

(In that meetup in April, they discussed a post by the rationalist blogger Scott Alexander. He found that the best studies that control for crime rate differentials indicate there's ambiguity about the level of racial bias in police stops & minor drug arrests, but there seems to be little or no racial bias in arrests for serious violent crime, prosecutions or convictions. The actual level of racial bias is limited & only unambiguously present in sentencing, and there only at a level of 10-20%, and that only if you believe the most damning studies. Nevertheless, income disparities between blacks & whites means that police work that focuses more on poor urban neighborhoods has disproportionate racial effects.)

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DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR OUR DISCUSSION:

The videos & articles you see linked below are intended to give you a basic overview of some of the major debates over America's prison system. As usual, I certainly don't expect you to read all the articles & watch all the videos prior to attending our discussion. The easiest way to prepare for our discussion is to just watch the numbered videos linked under each section - the videos come to about about 36 minutes total. The articles marked with asterisks are just there to supply additional details. You can browse and look at whichever ones you want, but don't worry - we'll cover the stuff you missed in our discussion.

In terms of the discussion format, my general idea is that we'll address the topics in the order presented here. I figure we'll spend about 30 minutes on each section.

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I. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY ON HOW PEOPLE THINK ABOUT CRIME & PUNISHMENT AND POLITICAL SCIENCE OF "TOUGH ON CRIME" VS "SOFT ON CRIME" RHETORIC:

  • HOW DO THE "BIG FIVE" PERSONALITY TRAITS SHAPE PEOPLE'S BELIEFS ABOUT CRIME & PUNISHMENT?

  • HOW DOES MORAL FOUNDATIONS THEORY HELP US UNDERSTAND PEOPLE'S BELIEFS ABOUT CRIME & PUNISHMENT?

  • IS THE PUBLIC'S VIEW OF CRIME & PUNISHMENT MORE INFLUENCED BY MEDIA COVERAGE OF CERTAIN HIGH-PROFILE CRIMES OR GENERAL TRENDS IN CRIME?

  • DID THE "WILLIE HORTON AD" ACTUALLY HARM MICHAEL DUKAKIS'S SUPPORT IN THE 1988 ELECTION?

  • DO "TOUGH ON CRIME" POLITICIANS STILL TEND TO WIN MORE ELECTIONS AFTER THE CRIME DROP OF THE 1990s?

1a) Young Turks, "Why Do Americans Support The Death Penalty?" (video - 3:50 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PWoA_5GdRk

1b) Mike Dukakis, Tucker Eskew, Ishmael Reed & Joe Conason, "The Willie Horton Ad and the Revolving Door Attack Ads" (video - 2:55 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTdUQ9SYhUw

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II. MORAL PHILOSOPHY ON THE VARIOUS JUSTIFICATIONS FOR THE DEATH PENALTY & IMPRISONMENT AND LEGAL PHILOSPHY ON THE 8th AMENDMENT'S PROHIBITION ON "CRUEL & UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT"

  • DOES THE FACT THAT THE RETRIBUTIVE THEORY OF PUNISHMENT IS "BACKWARD-LOOKING" & POSITS A SORT-OF METAPHYSICAL LEDGER THAT MUST BE BALANCED MAKE IT ILLOGICAL & ANACHRONISTIC?

  • IF THE CONSEQUENTIALIST THEORY OF PUNISHMENT MEANS THAT PEOPLE WHO COMMIT SERIOUS CRIMES CAN GET LIGHT SENTENCES OR PROBATION IF THEY'RE PROFILED AS UNLIKELY TO RE-OFFEND, IS THAT OKAY?

  • DOES THE COMMUNICATIVE THEORY OF PUNISHMENT - I.E. PUNISHMENT CONVEYS SOCIETY'S COLLECTIVE DISAPPROVAL OF CERTAIN ACTS & OUR CONCERN FOR VICTIMS - PROVIDE A GOOD REASON TO NOT LET CRIMINALS OFF EASY EVEN IF THEY'RE UNLIKELY TO RE-OFFEND?

  • IS THE 8th AMENDMENT'S PROHIBITION ON "CRUEL & UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT" TOO VAGUE, SINCE "CRUELTY" IS UNDEFINED AND ANY PUNISHMENT REGULARLY APPLIED CAN BECOME "USUAL"?

  • DO U.S. PRISONS VIOLATE THE 3 PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE: PROPORTIONALITY, EQUALITY, UTILITY?

2a) Philosophy Tube, "Crime, Law & Punishment" (video - 6:41 min.)
https://youtu.be/M3VsF0V3FJE

2b) NowThis World, "What is Cruel and Unusual Punishment?" (video - 3:26 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPVzWAcCyl8

Benjamin Wittes, "What Is 'Cruel and Unusual'?"
https://www.hoover.org/research/what-cruel-and-unusual

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III. EVIDENCE ON THE EFFECTS OF THE DEATH PENALTY, THREE STRIKES LAW, MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCING & MASS INCARCERATION:

  • DOES THE DEATH PENALTY CREATE A DETERRENT EFFECT ON CRIMINALS, OR ARE TOO MANY CAPITAL CRIMES COMMITTED IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT?

  • DOES THE "THREE STRIKES LAW" HELP PROTECT SOCIETY FROM REPEAT FELONS? IF NOT, WHY?

  • IS MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES MORE JUST SINCE IT PREVENTS RACIAL BIASES FROM ALLOWING JUDGES & JURIES TO "GO EASY" ON WHITE CONVICTS, OR IS IT COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE BY PREVENTING CLEMENCY?

  • WHY DOES THE U.S. IMPRISON A LARGER PERCENTAGE (0.5-1%) OF ITS POPULATION THAN OTHER DEVELOPED NATIONS? IS IT NECESSARY TO KEEP THE CRIME RATE LOW?

3a) Business Insider, "Do The Death Penalty And Longer Prison Sentences Deter Crime?" (video - 4:50 min.)
https://youtu.be/HWZerD0Na58

3b) NowThis World, "Why The U.S. Has More Prisoners Than Any Other Country" (video - 3:09 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orVVttsJmPY

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IV. EVIDENCE ON THE EFFECTS OF BAIL REFORM, EDUCATION & REHABILITATION, WORK RELEASE, DECARCERATION & RESTORATIVE JUSTICE:

  • IS IT UNJUST TO JAIL DEFENDANTS FOR LONG STRETCHES OF TIME BEFORE & DURING THEIR TRIAL? COULD BAIL REFORM HELP THOSE EVENTUALLY FOUND "NOT GUILTY" REMAIN INTEGRATED IN SOCIETY?

  • DO THE BENEFITS OF WORK RELEASE - I.E. KEEPING CONVICTS INTEGRATED INTO THE ECONOMY - COUNTER-BALANCE THE RISKS TO SOCIETY?

  • WHAT'S THE SUCESS RATE OF ADULT EDUCATION & REHABILITATION PROGRAMS IN TRANSFORMING CRIMINALS INTO PRODUCTIVE MEMBERS OF SOCIETY?

  • IS NORWAY'S RECIDIVISM RATE ONLY 20% AS IS OFTEN REPORTED? IF SO, ARE THEIR REHABILITATION PROGRAMS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS, OR IS IT SOMETHING ELSE ABOUT THEIR ECONOMY OR THEIR CULTURE?

  • IS TRUMP'S "FIRST STEP ACT" EVIDENCE THAT PRISON REFORM NOW ENJOYS SUBSTANTIAL BIPARTISAN SUPPORT IN THE U.S.?

4a) PBS w/ Mark Holden, "Is Trump's criminal justice plan 'rehabilitative and redemptive?’" (video - 6:52 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d_X4DiQNdI

4b) NowThis World, "This Country [Norway] Has The Most Humane Prison System" (video - 3:48 min.)
https://youtu.be/_B0Bt16BflY

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Cafe Walnut
703 Walnut Street · Philadelphia, PA
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