Friday, August 27, 2010

Mark Kleiman explains what's wrong with the US criminal justice system

Or, at least, one important part of what's wrong with it. For those of you who haven't read any of Mark Kleiman's published work (including his latest book, When Brute Force Fails), and even for those of you who have ... this video clip from a recent interview does a good job of compactly delivering the gist of his basic message. I recommend watching it. I find that message generally convincing and compelling myself, but judge for yourself.

--Jeff Weintraub

(P.S. And if you want to follow that up, see James Q. Wilson & Mark Kleiman on crime & punishment and Mark's cogent assessment of "Law and order" as a political slogan.)

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Mark Kleiman (The Reality-Based Community)
August 26, 2010
Less crime, less punishment, better production values

Zach Weissmueller of Reason.tv demonstrates that there is a level of production skill adequate to overcome my basic incompetence as an interviewee. The result is the best short version ever of When Brute Force Fails. All that’s left out is the details of the successful innovations such as HOPE and High Point.