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9 Punishment & Soc'y 5 (2007)

handle is hein.journals/punscty9 and id is 1 raw text is: Copyright @ SAGE Publications LondonThousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi. www.sagepublications.com 1462-4745; Vol 9(1): 5-26 DOI: 10.1177/1462474507070548 PUNISHMENT & SOCIETY When the policy becomes the problem Criminal justice in the new millennium SARA STEEN AND RACHEL BANDY University of Colorado, Boulder, USA Abstract In this article, we document a shift in public conversations about punishment in the United States that has occurred as a result of a collision between the principles of punishment that have dominated public policy for the past three decades and the fiscal realities of the 21st century. Over the past three decades, legislators have created a conversation in which the inclusion of principles other than retribution and revenge is virtually impossible. This absence of practical considerations has led to policies that are, in many cases, outrageously expensive. During the past five years, many state governments have seen their expenses grossly outpace their revenues, leaving legislators now to face a reality in which the 'Get Tough' policies of the 1980s and 1990s are no longer economically sustainable. We argue that the changing fiscal situation provides a context in which the rhetoric of punishment is finally open to change, and we document some of the rhetorical shifts that occur. Key Words criminal justice - public policy INTRODUCTION The importance of state legislatures in the development, oversight, and funding of US criminal justice policy cannot be overstated. Over the past 30 years, legislatures have become increasingly responsible for setting crime and punishment agendas, agendas that have been marked by a return to a corrections model based on the philosophy of retribu- tive justice. Because most crimes fall under state jurisdictions, state legislatures' develop- ment of policies reflective of retributive justice has had far-reaching consequences, most notably the unprecedented growth in incarceration rates and the concomitant growth in state corrections expenditures (Snell et al., 2003). As many states today face their largest budget crises in recent history, legislators are now forced to consider whether,

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