Conservative critics blamed lenient courts for rising crime after 1960.
Evidence
Since the 1960s, when crime rates in the United States soared, conservative critics have claimed that courts were responsible for much of the rise in crime. By freeing criminals on “legal technicalities” and giving lenient sentences to those convicted, they contended, the courts allowed dangerous criminals to return to the streets and undermined the deterrent effect of criminal law. To remedy the situation, these critics proposed several changes in the way courts operate. Among these changes were the reform or eli uséOF ilégally~obtained”evidence.to.secure-convietions; the reform or elimination of the insanity defense in criminal trials; and the reform of criminal sentencing, with sharply escalating sentences for repeat offend- ers. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1819
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the course theme that competing understandings of fairness and deterrence shape proposed judicial reforms. — connects to: Civil-liberties litigation shifted to state courts when the Supreme Court grew conservative