ABSTRACT
After reading this chapter students should understand and be able to discuss:
How the “get-tough” sentencing policies and the “crack cocaine epidemic” of the 1980s impacted the criminal justice system
How the death of college basketball star Len Bias in 1986 influenced America’s war on drugs
The evolution of mandatory-minimum sentencing, three strikes legislation, and truth-in-sentencing and its impact on the criminal justice system
The debate over gun control after the assassination attempt on President Reagan and the passage of the Brady Bill
The myths surrounding the “Twinkie defense”
The debate over the “broken-windows thesis”
The introduction of community-based policing and other new crime fighting philosophies
Why most forms of violent crime decreased in the 1990s
The debate over the federal abuse of power after several prominent standoffs were mis-handled by the FBI in the 1990s
America’s love affair with incarceration
The influence of faith-based initiatives and restorative justice strategies on the criminal justice process
Public opinion concerning the death penalty when life without parole is an alternative
What the Rodney King case and the trial of O. J. Simpson say about racism and the criminal justice system
Why rampage killings became more common in the 1990s
