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Cheap on Crime: Recession-Era Politics and the Transformation of American Punishment

Tue, August 19, 12:30 to 2:10pm, TBA

Abstract

For the first time in 40 years, the U.S. prison population is in decline, states are abolishing the death penalty and legalizing marijuana, and prisons are closing down and being decrowded. In my forthcoming book Cheap on Crime I examine the impact of the financial crisis on American corrections, focusing on the new, cost-centered discourse and the new political coalitions forming around the idea of financial prudence in punishment and corrections. Tracing the "money story" up to and since the financial crisis, I discuss the recession's implications for incarceration at the state and local level, the private prison industry, and inter-state relationships; I also highlight the rise of a new perception of inmates, through the lens of cost, prioritizing solutions for the old and infirm inmates. I end with a critical examination of these developments and with predictions as to their durability.

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