Crime and Punishment
Senator Edith Prague’s suggestion for imposing medieval justice on the Cheshire killers captured headlines yesterday, but the award for draconian rhetoric on crime and punishment still has to go to AFSCME Council 4 for their new radio advertisement.
Amid a background of wailing sirens, the ad warns listeners that, “2,000 inmates and counting have been set free and are now walking the streets!”
They could have conveyed their message more simply by writing: FEAR.
Residents on the lookout for roving bands of criminals need not worry about the state’s prison doors simply being left open, however. According to CT News Junkie:
The “2,000 inmates released†statement refers to prisoners released under diversionary programs, Leone said. He noted that a bill pending before the legislature is aimed at decreasing the inmate population through additional programs. The measure, part of the Malloy administration’s legislative recommendations, would allow some drunk driving offenders facing a mandatory prison time to serve their sentences under strict house arrest.
There are widely differing views on criminal justice reform and public safety issues are often a complex mix of emotions, statistics, and anecdotal evidence. Council 4′s hyperventilating rhetoric, however, is particularly shameless in its attempt to turn fear into a motive for not laying off some of their union members.
For too long, the most common reaction to crime and punishment issues has been to simply, “lock ‘em up and through away the key.” Growing movements like Right on Crime, however, are recognizing that prisons are the most expensive way to deal with society’s problems and criminal justice reform must produce better results and improved cost effectiveness.
It is ironic that these same unions have obstinately rejected cost-savings initiatives for the state’s 18 correctional facilities. Rather that introducing competition with the private sector or a host of other efficiency measures, the unions resort to the fear tactics on display in the radio ad.
Sen. Prague’s comments might sow fear in the hearts of potential criminals, but AFSCME’s rhetoric should provoke disdain in the minds of Connecticut’s taxpayers.
