FROM ISSUE NUMBER 129 - FALL 1997 GO TO TABLE OF CONTENTS
In pursuit of criminal justice
DESPITE evidence suggesting that much of American public policy closely—perhaps too closely—mirrors public desires (for example, Social Security, Medicare, and the federal college-loan program), this is hardly the case in how we punish violent criminals. Policy makers and criminal justice practitioners set punishment levels well below what the public considers appropriate. Indeed, our punishment practices reflect a pronounced disconnect between reasonable public opinion, on the one hand, and actual government policy, on the other.
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