Emily Weisburst | Econofact

Crime and Criminal Justice

Economics Research on Racial Disparities in Policing

June 16, 2020

The Issue:

Protests following the horrific death of George Floyd in Minneapolis have brought a new focus to racial disparities in U.S. policing. Administrative data and quantitative research has long documented large race disparities in arrests, traffic searches, speeding tickets, and use of force. For many years,

Crime and Criminal Justice

Sentencing Reform Update: The Economic Case for the “First Step Act”

December 18, 2018

(Click here for a larger version of the graph.)

The Issue:

When it comes to putting people behind bars, the United States is an outlier: The share of the population that is incarcerated is higher by far in the U.S. than in most other countries. Maintaining this high rate of incarceration comes at a high cost to ...
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Social Policy

The Economic Case for Sentencing Reform

May 19, 2017

The Issue:

On May 10, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a directive instructing federal prosecutors to "charge and pursue the most serious, readily provable offense" in all but exceptional cases. The action constitutes a reversal of the 2013 directive issued by former Attorney General Eric Holder who had instructed ...
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