Contrary to some recent assertions, conservative criminal justice reforms have not led to increases in violent crime.
We agree with fellow conservatives that criminals should be held accountable for their actions. “Swift and sure” consequences are effective at both prevention and punishment; “catch-and-release” policies are not. We need more police who are well-paid and well-trained, and we need prosecutors who prioritize the most serious crimes.
We also agree that incarceration is a necessary part of the justice system. It is unreasonable to believe that Mississippi should abolish prisons. For some criminals, punishment by prison is necessary and appropriate. Violent people, especially repeat violent offenders, should be locked up for a long time.
However, some have suggested that recent increases in violent crime are due to conservative criminal justice reforms enacted over the last decade. We reject that notion, and there is ample evidence to support our position.
First, the most significant violent crime increases in our region over the past decade occurred in two states that did not enact reforms like those enacted in Mississippi. And Texas, which has been even more aggressive than Mississippi in enacting prison reforms, is one of the few states that saw a decrease in violent crime.
While some, though not all, types of violent crime have risen, those crime increases do not coincide in time with Mississippi’s two largest criminal justice reforms, which were enacted in 2014 and 2021. In fact, in four of the first five years following the 2014 reforms, the violent crime rate in Mississippi was lower than in 2014. The spike in violent crime began in our state, as it did in almost every state in the nation, in 2020, a year before the 2021 reforms.
Mississippi’s homicide rate spiked more than other states in our region. Naturally, that is a cause for concern. But that also is not due to the reforms passed since 2014. People convicted of murder were not made eligible for parole in those reforms.
Moreover, the sudden rise in Mississippi’s homicide rate was driven largely by the doubling of the murder rate in the city
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