"Sentences Are Way Too Long"

by Matt Kelley · 2009-08-25 04:41:00 UTC
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Brown University economics professor Glenn Loury is the subject of a series of new short interviews at BigThink.  He talks about decriminalizing drugs, reforming sentencing in the U.S. and the impact of an assault allegation on his own career. He goes on to say Obama's handling of the Gates issue distracted us from real issues surrounding race relations.

Talking about our broken criminal justice system, Loury says:

"Our sentences are way too long. You put a person in jail for five years or ten years or 20 years for the same crime...the deterrent value is essentially nothing, the research shows this. Three strikes and you're out laws, the laws that say you commit a crime three times and you can be sentenced to 25 years or life, they're madness as policy. They're expressive political symbols, capturing the anger of people at social dysfunction and allowing politicians to show that they're responsive to that anger."

Watch the full video here.

Matt Kelley is the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project and a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Follow him on Twitter @mattjkelley.
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