Top criminologists take public policy stances
In a special "gala" issue of Criminology & Public Policy, 27 of the most influential criminologists alive take policy policy stances on issues ranging from juvenile curfews and the death penalty to sex offender residency restrictions and police gang units. The goal of each invited essay was to suggest that enough empirical evidence exists on the topic to support one specific recommendation, and to provide a summary of that evidence. Unfortunately, the essays are not available online, but I'm sure that if you are interested in a topic you can Google the author and obtain a reprint.
The recommendations include:
IMPOSE AN IMMEDIATE MORATORIUM ON EXECUTIONS
JAMES R. ACKER
ABOLISH JUVENILE CURFEWS
KENNETH ADAMS
ABOLISH LIFETIME BANS FOR EX-FELONS
SHAWN D. BUSHWAY & GARY SWEETEN
ABANDON FELON DISENFRANCHISEMENT POLICIES
ROBERT D. CRUTCHFIELD
MAKE REHABILITATION CORRECTIONS' GUIDING PARADIGM
FRANCIS T. CULLEN
EXPAND THE USE OF POLICE GANG UNITS
SCOTT H. DECKER
END NATURAL LIFE SENTENCES FOR JUVENILES
JEFFREY FAGAN
MAKE POLICE OVERSIGHT INDEPENDENT AND TRANSPARENT
JACK R. GREENE
BAN THE BOX TO PROMOTE EX-OFFENDER EMPLOYMENT
JESSICA S. HENRY, JAMES B. JACOBS
TARGET JUVENILE NEEDS TO REDUCE DELINQUENCY
PETER R. JONES, BRIAN R. WYANT
COLLECT AND RELEASE DATA ON COERCIVE POLICE ACTIONS
ROBERT J. KANE
MANDATE THE ELECTRONIC RECORDING OF POLICE INTERROGATIONS
RICHARD A. LEO, KIMBERLY D. RICHMAN
IMPLEMENT AND USE COURT PERFORMANCE MEASURES
BRIAN J. OSTROM, ROGER A. HANSON
JUST SAY NO TO D.A.R.E.
DENNIS P. ROSENBAUM
(One of my personal favoritess; it's high time to abolish harmful "Just Say No" messages targeting children.)
TRANSFER THE UNIFORM CRIME REPORTING PROGRAM FROM THE FBI TO THE BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS
RICHARD ROSENFELD
USE PROBATION TO PREVENT MURDER
LAWRENCE W. SHERMAN
(This is a provocative essay on forecasting homicide.)
REVISE POLICIES MANDATING OFFENDER DNA COLLECTION
RALPH B. TAYLOR, JOHN S. GOLDKAMP, DORIS WEILAND, CLAIRISSA BREEN, R. MARIE GARCIA, LAWRENCE A. PRESLEY, BRIAN R. WYANT
ELIMINATE RESIDENCY RESTRICTIONS FOR SEX OFFENDERS
JEFFERY T. WALKER
PROTECT INDIVIDUAL PUNISHMENT DECISIONS FROM MANDATORY PENALTIES
FRANKLIN E. ZIMRING

