Punishment and Democracy

This book is the definitive analysis of the politics and impact of "get tough" criminal sentencing legislation. Zimring, Hawkins, and Kamin examine the origins of the law in California, compare it to other crackdown laws, and analyse large samples of offenders arrested in Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco in the year before and the two years after the law went into effect. The study presents compelling evidence that the new regime has been enormously over-rated as a crime prevention measure.