Examining the links between state and local crime politics in California

• In Event: Historical Perspectives on Crime and Punishment

Abstract

Scholars have recently invested considerable effort in explaining the state-level political processes that have shaped the changes in penal policies across the US in the latter twentieth century that culminated in a drastic increase in prison populations. Less is known, however, about how local political processes affected this change. This manuscript examines how local forces shaped the ways that political actors responded to changing conditions that affected crime policy and politics. It examines how local political actors pursued their goals and whether local conditions were important in shaping overall changes in state penal policy. Using archival data and secondary historical sources, it constructs a history of what issues were most important for local and state leaders, what types of policies and responses they pursued in addressing local and state needs, and the ways that these conflicts operated in state politics to shape criminal justice policy. It will focus on conditions in three local areas, including Orange County, San Francisco and Sacramento, and will be limited to developments from 1978-1982, when the state’s incarceration rate accelerated.

Author

• Michael C. Campbell, University of Missouri - St. Louis