The Growth of Incarceration in the United States: Leaving Proportionality Behind

Abstract

The unprecedented growth of incarceration in the U.S has been driven by changes in criminal justice policy. These changes cannot be justified according to a theory of proportionality that reconciles consequentialist and deontological requirements. Punishment should be as proportional to its crime-reducing effects as possible without being disproportional to the crime itself. Not only have the changes in criminal justice policy made the system of punishment less proportional to its crime-reducing effects, but they have also created a system of punishment that is, in many cases, disproportional to the crime.