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Fear and Public Policy

October 3, 2017 by Marc Wennberg

I have often felt that any law that bears the name of a victim of crime is probably bad public policy. I suspect that this informal rule of thumb can be broadened to include any legislation that is written out of either fear or anger.

Legislators, by definition, must be responsive to their community. Egregious crimes (particularly sexual offending) touch into our deepest instincts of protection and safety, and spur legitimate outrage. Such events can be opportunities to reflect on how and where we failed to protect the vulnerable, and if need be address these failures with legislation. That is different, however, than reflexive policy.

We have too much reflexive policy on the books. Such laws rarely improve public safety; create institutional and individual financial burden; and damage lives and families.

Filed Under: Prison Reform, Research, Uncategorized

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About Community Reentry

Each day, all across the United States, people return home from prison (nearly 600,000/year). Their reentry, whether successful or uncesscessful... [read more]

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I am a consultant and non-profit professional with more than 20 years of experience... [read more]

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