From Tough Justice to Smart on Crime

criminal justice lessons from the Lone Star State

Authors

  • Ben Brooks

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26686/pq.v16i2.6485

Keywords:

prison, reform, corrections, justice, Texas

Abstract

New Zealand has one of the highest rates of imprisonment in the OECD. The current Labour prime minister and the most recent National prime minister have both expressed support for addressing the rate of imprisonment. Nonetheless, New Zealand’s prison population continues to grow and is forecast to continue growing. This article investigates Texas’s experience of criminal justice reform; in particular, how they achieved a bipartisan consensus in favour of reform. It then looks at what lessons Texas’s experience might offer New Zealand. Finally, it highlights shortcomings of the Texan approach and what these might mean for New Zealand.

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Published

2020-05-11

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 2 (2020): Listening to Voices of the Future

Section

Articles

License

Permission: In the interest of promoting debate and wider dissemination, the IGPS encourages use of all or part of the articles appearing in PQ, where there is no element of commercial gain. Appropriate acknowledgement of both author and source should be made in all cases. The IGPS retains copyright. Please direct requests for permission to reprint articles from this publication to igps@vuw.ac.nz.