I am informed that NPR, on its "Morning Edition" tomorrow, December 16, will air a program about sentencing reform and, in particular, the politics surrounding that issue. NPR was gracious enough to solicit my views, which are decidedly in the minority when stacked up against academics and Inside-the-Beltway interest groups.
The show will be at 6 a.m., and then again at 8 a.m., EST. It will also be available thereafter at www.npr.org.
I've said a bit -- actually, a whole lot -- about this subject, see, e.g., here, so I won't belabor readers with any long preview. I will say one thing for now, however: While I might be a lonely voice among the well-financed pro-inmate groups, I sincerely doubt that I'm lonely at all among the public.
Consider what the answer would be if the public were asked this: "Which comes closer to your view of the major problem with our criminal justice system -- that we have too many people in prison for too long, or that we still have too much crime?"
Then consider one more thing. Do you think there's a reason those self-same interest groups never commission a poll asking that question?
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