This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: New research from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law suggests that public sentiment associated with "tough on crime" politics may be tied to increases in the number of people admitted to state prisons during election years. The U.S. incarcerates more people than any other country, and "tough on crime" campaigns have long been part of the political landscape.
This is especially apparent in county contests for district attorney (DA), an elected official who represents the public in prosecuting people accused of crimes. The 1990s were the most punitive decade on record. In the 1970s and earlier, the number of incarcerated people rose and fell with wars, depressions and economic fluctuations.
But as new jails opened in the 1980s and 1990s, the number of prisoners soared, regardless of the crime rate. Examining the period from 1986 to 2006, the study found that election years were associated with increases in per capita admissions and months sentenced to state prisons. Admissions rose 3%, equivalent to approximately 63,000 additional prison admissions over the period.
"District attorneys are often considered the most influential person in the entire criminal legal system," said Chika Okafor, an economist and assistant professor of law at Northwestern Pritzker Law who led the study. "Prosecutor Politics: The Impact of Election Cycles on Criminal Sentencing in the Era of Rising Incarceration" was published Sept. 17 in the Journal of Public Economics. Okafor compiled the names of more than 4,200 district attorneys who were in office during the steepest rise in incarceration in U.S. history, roughly 1986–2006, using the National Directory of Prosecuting Attorneys.
He focused on DAs because prosecutors decide whether to charge an individual, what charges to file, whether to offer a plea bargain, what length of sentence to recommend and whether to drop charges. Sentencing data from nearly 40 states came from the National Corrections Reporting Program, which records offender-level prison admissions. Okafor counted admissions to state prisons, not jails, and examined admissions rather than total prison populations.
Election data came from states, counties and other sources, while prosecutor characteristics came in part from the Database on Ideology, Money in Politics, and Elections (DIME). Comparing the datasets, he estimated the effects of election cycles on district attorneys' decision-making. During the "War on Drugs" of the 1980s and through the passage of the 1994 Crime Bill, public sentiment on crime was more punitive, Okafor said.
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