Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Crime and the Candidates

I have been working on a handout for my classes that details the presidential candidate's positions on crime and imprisonment. Easy task - right? Not so much. Terrorism is addressed on most websites. Silly me, but I still believe that most crime is local. With 2 million people in prison and crime spending overtaking many state budgets, I thought there would be more discussion. I guess I was wrong.

Let me know if you find any information on the candidates' platforms.

(UPDATE)

I found a bit more info after some searching. It is interesting, Clinton and Obama have information on domestic crime policy on their Senate web pages - not on their presidential candidate pages. Romney has a few TV ads responding to Huckabee's pardon decisions, but that is about it. As Dr. Cranky suggested, most of the information concerns tougher sentencing practices - particularly for meth and sexual offenses. Not a surprise. I guess because crime is local, it would make sense for crime to be more of a congressional issue. At the same time, many of our large initiatives come out of fed money.

My class enjoyed the presentation of the material. Many times scholars blame mass incarceration on conservative politics. These statements may be correct when examining imprisonment races by county or state, but it is clear that 'get tough' policies are embraced by both sides of the political debate. Even after the search, I still have no idea who to vote for and I only have a few weeks.

3 comments:

Dr Cranky said...

Uhm..."as a candidate for president, I don't support crime". Were you looking for more than that? How about something fresh and original...more cops and tougher sentences.

I don't think crime general rises into the discourse of presidential politics, unless it is used as a point of attack (see Willie Horton).

Dr. Huginkiss said...

Have you tried Talk Left? It's a political blog that examines issues related to crime. They may have some info there...

Dr. Huginkiss said...

Me, either. Of course, since the dems skipped Michigan. it doesn't really matter that I'm undecided. Even if I had decided on a candidate, I didn't have an opportunity to express my vote in the primaries. It's very frustrating.

I will keep my eyes peeled for info on the candidates' crime platforms, and will post whatever I come across...