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America’s incarceration rate is in decline

(www.theatlantic.com)
254 points paulpauper | 1 comments | 25 Jun 25 17:14 UTC | HN request time: 0.202s | source
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rwmj ◴[25 Jun 25 17:58 UTC] No.44380094[source]▶
The question not even asked by the article is ... why?
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standardUser ◴[25 Jun 25 18:40 UTC] No.44380558[source]▶
From what I've read, mostly sentencing reform and less aggressive drug prosecution/more drug diversion. That and the general trend for crime to recede in wealthy, stable societies.
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pjdesno ◴[25 Jun 25 22:44 UTC] No.44382463[source]▶
It's not just law enforcement and sentencing - there are verifiable numbers for the results of certain crimes - homicides and auto theft come to mind - and most have declined precipitously.

E.g. Boston had 1,575 reports of auto theft in 2012, compared with 28,000 in 1975; Massachusetts had 242 murders in 1975, and 121 in 2012. (a 56% drop in homicide rate, as population went up 14%)

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3eb7988a1663 ◴[26 Jun 25 03:05 UTC] No.44383867[source]▶
That car theft number is blowing my mind. I would have easily guessed 10x that.

Are there any aspects of the crime that make it less appealing? Electronic counter measures too good? Price of replacement parts no longer carry a premium? Too easy to get caught?

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1. pjdesno ◴[26 Jun 25 16:10 UTC] No.44388742[source]▶
This paper argues that electronic locks played a large role: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41284-024-00452-2

I would bet that the pervasive use of electronic records has something to do with it, too. According to this 1979 report from the Nat'l Assoc. of Attorneys General, in the 70s there were a lot of paths to retitling a stolen vehicle back then, which along with the the rise of chop shops and easier export of stolen cars, supported a large stolen-car economy: https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/59904NCJRS.pdf