Crime

California

Chaos by the Bay

An odd pattern has emerged in San Francisco as the city responds to the Covid-19 pandemic. The world of the well-off has become tightly restricted by public quarantine orders, and the world of the poor increasingly resembles that of Mad Max—lawless, crime-ridden, and devoid of functioning authority. Over just a few ...
Blog

Is Coronavirus Triggering De-Facto Early Release for Thousands of Offenders?

In recent years, California has undergone a significant change in its approach to criminal justice. As PRI’s Kerry Jackson writes in his book, Living in Fear in California, once California’s prison population reached an all-time high of 160,000 in 2006, “a May 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling . . . ...
Blog

When They Don’t Have to Do the Time, They’ll Do the Crime

When Proposition 47 was passed, no small number of critics said it would lead to increases in property crimes as it downgraded theft to a misdemeanor if the value of the stolen goods or bad checks is less than $950. The threshold had been $450. Five years later, some law ...
Blog

California Crime Fell In 2018 — Is It the Start of a Favorable Trend?

California’s 2018 crime data has been released and the news is mostly encouraging, though a bit mixed. The violent crime rate is slightly down (1.5%) after growing for three straight years, and four of the last seven, according to data released this month by the state Department of Justice. Homicides ...
Blog

Blue State Model Continues To Drag Down California

About the same time two of California’s largest cities were named among the seven worst-run municipalities in the country, we learn that the state’s — and the country’s — largest county had the worst population outflow in the U.S. in 2018. The livin’ in California ain’t easy, in the summertime ...
California

All Signs Point to Crime Making a Comeback in California

California was once known for being tough on criminals. We’re not talking about frontier days, but much more recently. It was only five years ago when the Washington Post’s Max Ehrenfreund wrote that “California’s criminal justice system has long been among the most punitive.” At one time, Newsweek said, the state’s three-strikes ...
Agriculture

PRI’s Summer Reading List

What’s a summer without a reading list?  And what’s a think tank without ideas? So, we just couldn’t help ourselves and came up with the list below compiled from PRI’s staff.  Lest you stop reading now because you think that all the books are wonky — not true. To my ...
Book

New Book Explores Why Many Californians Are Living in Fear, Outlines Reforms to Restore Safe Communities

Well-meaning policy changes are undermining safe communities in California and must be reformed to restore public safety throughout the state, writes Pacific Research Institute fellow Kerry Jackson in his new book on crime in California, Living in Fear in California. Living in Fear in California can be purchased at Amazon.com, Barnes ...
California

Kerry Jackson discusses new book, Living in Fear in California

Kerry Jackson, Fellow at PRI’s Center for California Reform, discusses PRI’s new book, Living in Fear in California.  California once had the nation’s strongest public safety laws, but voters and lawmakers have recently embraced a shift in crime policy. Jackson explores the impact these changes have had on California’s communities ...
Blog

What We’re Watching – March 22

Tim Anaya – What Crime Victims Have to Say About Gov. Newsom’s Actions on the Death Penalty This week on Right by the Bay, I wrote about Gov. Newsom’s startling actions on the death penalty. My piece argues that justice for crime victims and their families are clearly not one ...
California

Chaos by the Bay

An odd pattern has emerged in San Francisco as the city responds to the Covid-19 pandemic. The world of the well-off has become tightly restricted by public quarantine orders, and the world of the poor increasingly resembles that of Mad Max—lawless, crime-ridden, and devoid of functioning authority. Over just a few ...
Blog

Is Coronavirus Triggering De-Facto Early Release for Thousands of Offenders?

In recent years, California has undergone a significant change in its approach to criminal justice. As PRI’s Kerry Jackson writes in his book, Living in Fear in California, once California’s prison population reached an all-time high of 160,000 in 2006, “a May 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling . . . ...
Blog

When They Don’t Have to Do the Time, They’ll Do the Crime

When Proposition 47 was passed, no small number of critics said it would lead to increases in property crimes as it downgraded theft to a misdemeanor if the value of the stolen goods or bad checks is less than $950. The threshold had been $450. Five years later, some law ...
Blog

California Crime Fell In 2018 — Is It the Start of a Favorable Trend?

California’s 2018 crime data has been released and the news is mostly encouraging, though a bit mixed. The violent crime rate is slightly down (1.5%) after growing for three straight years, and four of the last seven, according to data released this month by the state Department of Justice. Homicides ...
Blog

Blue State Model Continues To Drag Down California

About the same time two of California’s largest cities were named among the seven worst-run municipalities in the country, we learn that the state’s — and the country’s — largest county had the worst population outflow in the U.S. in 2018. The livin’ in California ain’t easy, in the summertime ...
California

All Signs Point to Crime Making a Comeback in California

California was once known for being tough on criminals. We’re not talking about frontier days, but much more recently. It was only five years ago when the Washington Post’s Max Ehrenfreund wrote that “California’s criminal justice system has long been among the most punitive.” At one time, Newsweek said, the state’s three-strikes ...
Agriculture

PRI’s Summer Reading List

What’s a summer without a reading list?  And what’s a think tank without ideas? So, we just couldn’t help ourselves and came up with the list below compiled from PRI’s staff.  Lest you stop reading now because you think that all the books are wonky — not true. To my ...
Book

New Book Explores Why Many Californians Are Living in Fear, Outlines Reforms to Restore Safe Communities

Well-meaning policy changes are undermining safe communities in California and must be reformed to restore public safety throughout the state, writes Pacific Research Institute fellow Kerry Jackson in his new book on crime in California, Living in Fear in California. Living in Fear in California can be purchased at Amazon.com, Barnes ...
California

Kerry Jackson discusses new book, Living in Fear in California

Kerry Jackson, Fellow at PRI’s Center for California Reform, discusses PRI’s new book, Living in Fear in California.  California once had the nation’s strongest public safety laws, but voters and lawmakers have recently embraced a shift in crime policy. Jackson explores the impact these changes have had on California’s communities ...
Blog

What We’re Watching – March 22

Tim Anaya – What Crime Victims Have to Say About Gov. Newsom’s Actions on the Death Penalty This week on Right by the Bay, I wrote about Gov. Newsom’s startling actions on the death penalty. My piece argues that justice for crime victims and their families are clearly not one ...
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