Download presentation
Presentation is loading. Please wait.
1
The Economics of Crime and Justice
1
2
Outline for Today: 09/22/2011 Syllabus: course details
Syllabus: Assignments by Lecture Number Current Criminal Justice Policy Issues Trends in California imprisonment and crime levels Questions about crime trends and imprisonment trends The Economics of Crime Control 2
3
3
4
4
6
6
8
Current Criminal Justice Policy Issues
Early release for primary caregivers who were not convicted of violent crimes or sex crimes Los Angeles Times front page story, p. A1, Tuesday Sept. 13, 2011 8
9
9
10
Analysis/Questions If less serious offenders are to be released early, why did we send them to state prison in the first place? How do we measure the seriousness of an offense? 10
11
11
12
12
13
The Story Behind the Story
California state prisons are overcrowded and a federal court ordered a reduction of 30,000 prisoners by July 2013 Former Governor Arnold Schwarzeneger and former California Attorney General Jerry Brown jointly appealed The United States Supreme Court rejected their appeal in May 2011 13
14
Current Criminal Justice Policy Issues #2
Should California prisoners be transferred to city and county jails to reduce overcrowding? Los Angeles Times front page story, p. A1, Tuesday May 24, 2011 14
15
15
16
Current Criminal Justice Policy Issues #3
Will California sentencing laws re-fill the state prisons if the state meets the court order and reduces the number of state prisoners by 30,000 before July 2013 ? Los Angeles Times front page story, p. A1, Tuesday May 25, 2011 16
17
17
18
18
19
Have California prisons always been overcrowded?
How did the prisons become overcrowded? Why did the prisons become overcrowded? 19
22
California State Prisoners Per Capita, 1952-2009
23
Prisoners in California
From , imprisonment rates were fairly stable Why did imprisonment rates increase about a factor of five between 1980 and 1995? What was happening to crime rates in the years since World War II?
24
FBI Index Crimes/Street Crimes
Violent Crimes Homicide Forcible rape Robbery Aggravated assault Property Crimes Burglary Motor vehicle theft Larceny theft
25
Report to the Nation on Crime and Justice
29
Observations Crime is rising by a factor of four in the sixties and seventies; imprisonment is staying constant Crime levels off in the latter seventies and eighties, imprisonment increases about a factor of five from Crime declines beginning in 1990 and continuing through the Great Recession, ; Imprisonment levels off beginning in 1995 but does not decline
30
Questions About Crime and Imprisonment
Do these disconnected trends between crime and imprisonment make any sense? Why did crime increase so dramatically in the fifties and sixties? Why did crime level off in the seventies and eighties? Why has crime declined since 1990? Why hasn’t imprisonment declined as well?
31
Report of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
34
Question? All this is fine and dandy. We are studying criminal justice, but how does it affect me? Or, more to the point, how does it affect you?
35
The Eggplant That Ate Chicago
36
The Daily Beast
42
The Economics of Crime Control
Objective: minimize the sum of damages to victims and expenditures on the criminal justice system Damages to victims = loss rate* offenses, or in symbols r*of Expenditures on the criminal justice system, abbreviated CJS, for law enforcement, trials (district attorneys, public defenders, judges) and operating jails and prisons
43
Graphics: expenditure on CJS is easy
$ 45 degrees Expenditure on criminal justice system, E on CJS, $
44
The Graphics of Crime Control, if Crime Is Controllable
Offenses, OF OF(E) E on CJS
45
The Graphics of Damages to Victims, if Crime Is Controllable
$ r*OF(E) E on CJS
46
The Graphics of Damages to Victims Plus Expenditures on CJS
$ r*OF(E) 45 degrees E on CJS
47
The Graphics of Total Cost, TC TC = r*OF + E
Total Cost (E) $ r*OF(E) 45 degrees E on CJS
48
The Graphics of Total Cost, TC TC = r*OF + E
Total Cost (E) $ Economic Paradigm Choose objective e. g. minimize sum of damages to victims plus expenditures, E, on CJS 2. Describe states of the world (options for choice) Total cost curve (E) 3. Choose the best option Minimum Cost E on CJS Optimal Expenditure
49
What Have We Learned Even if crime is controllable, the optimal level of crime ( and damages to victims) is not zero There comes a point where spending more on crime control, i.e. the CJS, costs more than is saved by reducing damages to victims, and this is where total costs start to rise above their minimum
50
What If Crime, Or Some Types of Crime, are Not Controllable
51
The Graphics of Crime Control, if Crime Is Uncontrollable
Offenses, OF OF(E) E on CJS
52
The Graphics of Damages to Victims, if Crime Is Uncontrollable
$ r*OF(E) E on CJS
53
The Graphics of Total Cost, TC TC = r*OF + E
Total Cost (E) $ Minimum Total Cost is no Expenditure on CJS, E=0 r*OF(E) 45 degrees optimum E on CJS
54
What Did We Learn From Prohibition, 1919-1933?
The argument was: misuse or abuse of alcohol can have bad effects Drunken husbands beat their wives Drunken mothers mistreat their children But the majority of people did not want to give up alcohol Following the passage of the Volstead Act in 1919, we witnessed rum-runners, speakeasies, people making beer and bathtub gin
57
Rum Runner
59
Summary of Topics Today
Syllabus: course details Syllabus: Assignments by Lecture Number Current Criminal Justice Policy Issues Trends in California imprisonment and crime levels Questions about crime trends and imprisonment trends Higher Education Or Prison Cells? The Economics of Crime Control 59
60
Preview of Some Coming Topics
Deaths from: Autos Drugs & Guns
62
The Impact of Crime on Society
Next Time Social Welfare The Impact of Crime on Society
Similar presentations
© 2025 SlidePlayer.com. Inc.
All rights reserved.