Pubdate: Tue, 14 Sep 2004
Source: Pacific Daily News (US GU)
Copyright: 2004 Pacific Daily News
Contact: http://www.guampdn.com/customerservice/contactus.html
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Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1122
Author: Peter C. Mayer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)

MANY FACTORS LEAD TO REDUCED CRIME RATE

U.S. Attorney Leonardo Rapadas, in the Aug. 7 Pacific Daily News, 
essentially claimed that the system of mandatory minimum sentences was the 
cause of the reduced crime rate, a questionable claim at best.

As a possible defense of Rapadas' position, one probable cause for the 
reduction of crime in the 1990s was the increased number in prison. Long 
sentences are a deterrent and keep criminals off the street. Sentencing is 
often arbitrary and not proportional to the offense. Mandatory sentencing 
moves the discretion from the judge who sentences to the prosecutor who 
chooses the charge. The judge's concern may be in line with justice; the 
prosecutor's concern will be with getting convictions, not with justice.

There will always be a problem that the most sleazy, those who do not even 
have loyalty to their gang, get the lowest sentences by turning state's 
evidence.

The reduction of crack-cocaine use certainly played a role in the reduction 
in murders and other violent crime during the '90s. The violence reduced, 
however, was through reduced rivalry among the different crack 
distributors. This suggests a non-law-enforcement means to deal with drug 
addiction, such as providing maintenance doses to addicts at cost, 
destroying the market for drug pushers.

Increases in the number of police played a role in reducing crime. Although 
statistical evidence does not support that the emphasis on police-community 
relations reduces crime, surely this does. As evidence, good 
police-community relations increase the tips police receive and increases 
crime reporting, particularly in poor and minority neighborhoods.

Fewer youth having been brought up or, perhaps more accurately, neglected 
as unwanted children due to Roe v. Wade also appears to have played a role 
in reducing the crime rate.

For those who wish to pursue this further, a readable article in the Winter 
2004 issue of The Journal of Economic Perspectives is a place to begin.

Peter C. Mayer (Taituba), Mangilao
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager