Insurgent safety: Theorizing alternatives to state protection

2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghan G McDowell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Alternative Model ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Public Safety ◽  
The United States ◽  
Dominant Model ◽  
Police Violence ◽  
Social Good ◽  
State Protection

In the United States, public safety is embraced as an unquestioned social good. Broadly speaking, the criminal justice system is tasked with administering and maintaining public safety through the use of law enforcement, the courts, and prisons. First, through a focus on racialized police violence, this article develops a critique of the dominant model of public safety practiced in the United States—identified herein as ‘carceral safety’. Second, through an analysis of findings from the (Re)imagining Public Safety Project (RPSP), this article seeks to sketch out an alternative model and practice of safety that does not rely on banishment, policing, or mass criminalization. In contradistinction to the forms of state protection exercised under the seemingly innocuous rhetoric of ‘public safety’, RPSP participants conceptualized what I am calling ‘insurgent safety’: locally determined, anti-capitalist practices and ethics for reducing, and responding to harm.

scholarly journals Helpful tools for criminal prosecution in domestic violence cases: Some ideas from the United States of America

Temida ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-71
Author(s):  
Katie Zoglin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Support Services ◽  
Justice System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Criminal Prosecution ◽  
Restraining Orders ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Victim Support

In this paper author presents three instruments that have been proven helpful in domestic violence prosecutions in the United States, particularly in California: (1) laws, (2) inter-agency protocols, and (3) victim support services. Prosecutors have found that certain laws have been helpful in domestic violence prosecutions. These include restraining orders, criminal penalties for violations of restraining orders, and evidence code provisions permitting certain kinds of testimony. Second, many jurisdictions in California have drafted inter-agency protocols. The purpose of these protocols is to help law enforcement, health care workers, and social workers in gathering evidence relating to domestic violence cases. Finally, most victims are not familiar with the criminal justice system many are nervous about going to court for domestic violence cases, for a variety of reasons. As a result, many jurisdictions have established victim support services.

scholarly journals Book Review: Gangland: An Encyclopedia of Gang Life from Cradle to Grave

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 140
Author(s):  
Dianna Kim
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Criminal Activity ◽  
The United States ◽  
American Population ◽  
Social Good ◽  
Law Enforcement Officials ◽  
Gang Life ◽  
The Impact

The existence of gangs and the impact of gang-related criminal activity on communities in the United States has been an issue examined by criminologists and law enforcement officials for decades. While the focus of such inquiry has historically been centered on the harm caused by gangs, it is often overlooked that such groups also have been known to engage in pursuits resulting in social good. In Gangland: An Encyclopedia of Gang Life from Cradle to Grave, editor Laura L. Finley endeavors to demystify common gang misperceptions regarding this both intriguing and terrifying facet of the American population.

Classifying Far-Right Groups as Gangs

Contexts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 74-75
Author(s):  
Matthew Valasik ◽  
Shannon E. Reid
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Street Gangs ◽  
Foreseeable Future ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Policy Makers

The uneven response by law enforcement has resulted in the overall under-policing of far-right groups. Policy makers and the broader criminal justice system need consider proactive approaches if the goal is to prevent violence from far-right groups. A straightforward and appropriate approach is to treat far-right groups as street gangs. Existing gang statutes are a proven tool is aggressively used on BIPOC gangs and should be equally applied to far-right groups. Law enforcement’s continued dismissiveness of far-right groups only increases them as being the most "persistent and lethal threat" in the United States for the foreseeable future.

Access to Justice for Immigrants Who are Victimized: The Perspectives of Police and Prosecutors

2001 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 183-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert C. Davis ◽  
Edna Erez ◽  
Nancy Avitabile
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Survey Methodology ◽  
The United States ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Police Chiefs ◽  
The Past

The increased diversity of the U.S. population poses special challenges to the criminal justice system. High levels of immigration to the United States within the past decade require that law enforcement and court organizations understand the concerns of crime victims who are recent immigrants, and facilitate meaningful access to the justice system. Employing survey methodology, this research describes the barriers that immigrants encounter in accessing justice, as they emerged from the responses of police chiefs and prosecutors in the 50 largest cities of the United States. Criminal justice officials believe that failure to report crimes and to cooperate in their prosecution is a significant problem, especially for domestic violence offenses. The results suggest that many metropolitan areas have made some efforts to promote participation of immigrant victims in the criminal justice system. But far more needs to be done to ensure access to justice for this growing segment of society.

scholarly journals Mercy towards decarceration: Examining the legal constraints on early release from prison

Incarceration ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 263266632097780
Author(s):  
Alexandra Cox ◽  
Dwayne Betts
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Family Members ◽  
The United States ◽  
Early Release ◽  
The Us ◽  
Legal Constraints ◽  
Release From Prison

There are close to seven million people under correctional supervision in the United States, both in prison and in the community. The US criminal justice system is widely regarded as an inherently unmerciful institution by scholars and policymakers but also by people who have spent time in prison and their family members; it is deeply punitive, racist, expansive and damaging in its reach. In this article, we probe the meanings of mercy for the institution of parole.

Shame and blame: Secondary stigma among families of convicted sex offenders

2021 ◽  
pp. 174889582110173
Author(s):  
Douglas Evans ◽  
Adam Trahan ◽  
Kaleigh Laird
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sex Offenders ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Sex Offender ◽  
Family Members ◽  
The United States ◽  
Formerly Incarcerated ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Sex Offender Registry

The detriment of incarceration experienced by the formerly incarcerated has been increasingly explored in the literature on reentry. A tangential but equally concerning issue that has recently received more research attention is the effect on family members of the incarcerated. The stigma of a criminal conviction is most apparent among families of convicted sex offenders, who experience consequences parallel to those of their convicted relative. Drawing from interviews with 30 individuals with a family member incarcerated for a sex offence in the United States, this study explores manifestations of stigma due to familial association. The findings suggest that families face negative treatment from social networks and criminal justice officials, engage in self-blame and that the media’s control over the narrative exacerbates family members’ experiences. Given the pervasiveness of criminal justice system contact, the rapid growth of the sex offender registry in the United States, and the millions of family members peripherally affected by one or both, justice system reforms are needed to ensure that family members are shielded from the harms of incarceration and registration.

Immigrant Sanctuary Policies and Crime-Reporting Behavior: A Multilevel Analysis of Reports of Crime Victimization to Law Enforcement, 1980 to 2004

2021 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 154-185
Author(s):  
Ricardo D. Martínez-Schuldt ◽  
Daniel E. Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Public Safety ◽  
The United States ◽  
Crime Reporting ◽  
Immigrant Community ◽  
Crime Victimization ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Reporting Behavior

Sanctuary jurisdictions have existed in the United States since the 1980s. They have recently reentered U.S. politics and engendered contentious debates regarding their legality and influence on public safety. Critics argue that sanctuary jurisdictions create conditions that threaten local communities by impeding federal immigration enforcement efforts. Proponents maintain that the policies improve public safety by fostering institutional trust among immigrant communities and by increasing the willingness of immigrant community members to notify the police after they are victimized. In this study, we situate expectations from the immigrant sanctuary literature within a multilevel, contextualized help-seeking framework to assess how crime-reporting behavior varies across immigrant sanctuary contexts. We find that Latinos are more likely to report violent crime victimization to law enforcement after sanctuary policies have been adopted within their metropolitan areas of residence. We argue that social policy contexts can shift the nature of help-seeking experiences and eliminate barriers that undermine crime victims’ willingness to mobilize the law. Overall, this study highlights the unique role social policy contexts can serve in structuring victims’ help-seeking decisions.

Medicaid Not Required to Fund Medically Necessary Abortions

1980 ◽  
Vol 1 (8) ◽  
pp. 3-6
Author(s):  
George J. Annas
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
United States Supreme Court ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Constitution ◽  
Medical Procedures ◽  
Poor Women ◽  
Law Enforcement Agency ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Joint Resolution

In an extraordinary and highly controversial 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court decided on June 30, 1980, that the United States Constitution does not require either the federal government or the individual states to fund medically necessary abortions for poor women who qualify for Medicaid.At issue in this case is the constitutionality of the Hyde Amendment. The applicable 1980 version provides:|N]one of the funds provided by this joint resolution shall be used to perform abortions except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term; or except for such medical procedures necessary for the victims of rape or incest when such rape or incest has been reported promptly to a law enforcement agency or public health service, (emphasis supplied)

Racializing Crimmigration

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amada Armenta
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Immigration Enforcement ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Local Law Enforcement ◽  
Local Jail ◽  
Colorblind Ideology ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Local Law

Deporting “criminal aliens” has become the highest priority in American immigration enforcement. Today, most deportations are achieved through the “crimmigration” system, a term that describes the convergence of the criminal justice and immigration enforcement systems. Emerging research argues that U.S. immigration enforcement is a “racial project” that subordinates and racializes Latino residents in the United States. This article examines the role of local law enforcement agencies in the racialization process by focusing on the techniques and logics that drive law enforcement practices across two agencies, I argue that local law enforcement agents racialize Latinos by punishing illegality through their daily, and sometimes mundane, practices. Investigatory traffic stops put Latinos at disproportionate risk of arrest and citation, and processing at the local jail subjects unauthorized immigrants to deportation. Although a variety of local actors sustain the deportation system, most do not see themselves as active participants in immigrant removal and they explain their behavior through a colorblind ideology. This colorblind ideology obscures and naturalizes how organizational practices and laws converge to systematically criminalize and punish Latinos in the United States.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document