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"Why are violent crime rates falling?"

By Douglas A. Berman

The title of this post is the question that, in my opinion, should be the top research and policy concern for all academics and lawmakers in 2010.  It also is the head of this terrific new Washington Post editorial, which I must quote at great length because it is so astute: As you have no doubt heard, the first 10 years of the 21st century were dreadful -- a lost decade of terrorism, war and economic stagnation.  There is some truth to that portrayal.  But in one significant respect, the awful Aughties were practically a golden age.  We refer to the continued progress the United States is making against homicide and other violent crime. According to some conventional wisdom, economic trouble breeds lawlessness. Yet in the first half of 2009, as unemployment skyrocketed, reported murders, forcible rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults decreased by 4...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on January 02, 2010 (boomark / email).