The main thing that I took away from our discussions of criminal justice in class was that the American prison system represents a pressure point. Jails are so expensive and overcrowded that many states are looking for a way out of the problem. This kind of crisis can be exploited. It can be used as a way to push institutional reform forward despite the usual forces of resistance.

How individuals answer the big questions of “Does punishment deter?” and “Does criminal justice work?” will probably determine how individuals try to exploit the prison crisis in order to reform the system. In other words, these questions will probably do more to determine the end point of change and not the starting point. The starting point is a crisis that creates a climate in which change is possible.