A few weeks ago, the BBC sent former David Cameron speechwriter Danny Kruger to Texas to look into the successes of that state’s criminal justice reforms. The first stop on his tour was our Right on Crime office at the Texas Public Policy Foundation in Austin. Kruger spoke to Right on Crime policy director Marc Levin as well as senior fellow Jerry Madden. In an article accompanying the half-hour broadcast (embedded below), Kruger described the evolution of of the conservative criminal justice reform movement, correctly identifying that it “goes way beyond the desire to save money”:
Consistent with the straightforward Texan manner, [in 2007,] the Congressional Republicans did not attempt to tackle what in Britain are known as “the causes of crime” – the socio-economic factors that make people more disposed to offend. Instead, they focused on the individual criminal, and his or her personal choices. Here, they believe, moral clarity and generosity are what’s needed.
Though fiscal conservatism may have got the ball rolling, what I saw in Texas – spending time in court and speaking to offenders, prison guards, non-profit staff and volunteers – goes way beyond the desire to save money.
Continue reading at the BBC, and listen to the whole show below.
(December 1, 2014 | 28 minutes)