Reversal or Redirection? 2009–2017

Abstract

In the face of mounting resistance from old-line groups and new ones like Black Lives Matter, many elements of the punitive turn stabilized or even (as with incarceration rates) receded a bit during the Barack Obama years, while talk of crime-fighting as a “war” diminished. But by then the punitive turn was so deeply ingrained in American institutions that reversal was nearly impossible, and other elements, like America’s immigration system, worsened.