Framing the debate on criminal justice reform: What citizens and policymakers should know (William A. Galston, Elizabeth H. McElvein, Brookings)

Americans across partisan, ideological, and racial lines are rethinking the country’s criminal justice system. This is entirely appropriate—and necessary. By situating decades-long trends in crime and punishment in the appropriate historical and comparative contexts, Galston and McElvein hope to provide citizens and policymakers with a framework for assessing the opportunities and challenges of criminal justice reform. To this end, the authors have produced a report highlighting a range of key issues, from scope of buildup in the prison population, to the cost of incarceration, to the demographic characteristics of incarcerated individuals.

http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2016/03/16-criminal-justice-reform-debate-galston-mcelvein