and conservative lawmakers alike have expressed concerns about the effects such legislation will produce. Common among these concerns are the effects on prison populations, whether nonviolent crimes should constitute a strike, and what costs these policies will generate for the criminal justice system (p. 16).
Many observers point to the fact that 1994 was a national election year as impetus for this "lock 'em up" stance. According to Benekos and Merlo (1995), "the answer is simple: politics. Democrats wanted to take the crime issue away from the Republicans. Republicans responded by sounding 'tougher' . . . and President Clinton wanted something--anything--labeled 'crime bill'" (p. 3). But are these "quick-fix responses to the complex and difficult issues of crime, violence, and public anxiety over the disorder and decline in America" (Benekos & Merlo, 1995, p. 3) producing the intended results?
The answer is, emphatically, NO! In slightly more than a quarter century, federal spending for the administration of justice rose from $535 millio
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