RUBIN-STANKIEWICZ: 'Tough on crime' narrative needs to stop
Column: Rutgers Realities
Recently, politicians have been echoing "tough on crime" narratives seemingly taken directly from the pages of history textbooks.
Democratic politicians, in particular, seem to be under the impression that, in order to have a chance on a national stage, they need to "crackdown" on crime through harsher sentencing.
The same politicians have been increasing efforts to criminalize homelessness. New York City's Mayor Eric Adams (D) and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) have overseen efforts to forcibly clear and destroy homeless encampments while expanding the involuntary treatment and hospitalization of homeless populations.
New Jersey is no exception.
Recently, several bills increasing the penalties for auto theft and carjackings, as well as possessing, selling and manufacturing fentanyl, have moved forward with bipartisan support in the New Jersey Legislature, despite the ardent opposition of organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and New Jersey Harm Reduction Coalition.
Meanwhile, New Jersey's prisons have the worst Black-white racial disparities of any state in the country, with 59 percent of the prison population being Black residents, despite making up 15 percent of the state's general population. This racial disparity has remained prominent despite a 43 percent reduction in the overall state prison population since 2013.
The push for "tough on crime" policies feels especially insidious when legislation to address police violence and create greater police transparency has remained at a standstill at the state and federal levels.
In order to reverse this return of "tough on crime" rhetoric, we need to combat the popular narrative that focusing on crime through incarcerating more people, longer prison sentences and targeting homeless populations will win elections for Democrats.
Lori Lightfoot's (D) loss in the primary election in Chicago was used to paint a conservative narrative about the need to be tough on crime, which made the assumption that Lightfoot's poor performance was a warning sign. Adams took the opportunity to share his opinion on CNN, claiming that Lightfoot's re-election loss is a "warning sign for the country" regarding the need to focus on crime.
Instead, Brandon Johnson (D), a progressive candidate who supported moving away from policing-based public safety models, won the mayoral election last Tuesday, indicating the complete opposite.
Another example is President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s signing of a bill overturning the Washington D.C. Council's vote in favor of updating their crime code because he claimed it included "lowering penalties for carjackings."
In the process of overturning the Council's decision, Biden, a public proponent of D.C. statehood, Tweeted about the precedent of D.C. residents' autonomy being secondary to the wishes of the U.S. Congress.
This example demonstrates the danger of playing into and replicating "tough on crime" narratives. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) immediately leaned into these narratives after Biden announced his decision, tweeting, "By rejecting D.C.'s law, President Biden acknowledged the basic fact that soft-on-crime policies endanger the public."
He followed that up by immediately saying that the same reasoning should be applied to "drug trafficking, defunding the police, and illegal immigration," illustrating how no matter how much Democratic candidates try to lean into being "tough on crime," they will always be criticized and asked to do more.
This narrative around crime has been powerful and resonant enough historically that it fueled an era of mass incarceration in the U.S. that continues to this day.
We have more effective tools to address violence and addiction in communities, from harm reduction to community violence intervention and other restorative justice strategies. These tools work to reduce rates of violence and overdoses without locking up a majority Black, Indigenous, Hispanic and disabled prison population and subjecting them to second-class citizenship.
We must invest in these strategies, not as an add-on to our criminal justice strategy, but have it as the foundation. Safety does not come from increasing mass incarceration. As long as there is a willingness to cede the ideological ground that being "tough on crime" is ever effective, we will never see true justice.
Raisa Rubin-Stankiewicz is a junior in the School of Arts and Sciences majoring in political science and minoring in psychology. Her column, "Rutgers Realities," runs on alternate Tuesdays.
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