Tuesday, July 27, 2021
Where Reform Goes to Die
I was thrilled when I found out that Harvard was starting a new Institute to End Mass Incarceration-- and even more thrilled when they asked Rachel Barkow and I to write a piece for their roll-out.
That came out yesterday, and you can read it here. Here is a taste:
If there is one tragic constant about the Justice Department, no matter which administration is in power, it is this: DOJ is bold in the easy job of locking people up and timid in the more difficult task of crafting alternatives to brute-force incarceration. Consistently, DOJ fights common-sense reform, maintains a stranglehold on access to the rusted levers of change, and resists second-guessing its decisions. Asking DOJ to do better has not worked, no matter who has occupied the top appointed positions there. It is not a question of getting the right people in place in positions of power. It is, instead, a fundamental issue of institutional failure that requires fundamental institutional reform. It is time to limit the breadth of the Justice Department to its core prosecutorial functions and to develop broader governmental institutions to address other functions now under its awkward, too-large umbrella.
