Leaving the Shining City on a Hill: A Plea for Rediscovering Comparative Criminal Justice Policy in the United States

Abstract

Over the past several decades, American penal exceptionalism—the tendency for U.S. penal policies and practices to proudly diverge from those of other Western countries—has severely limited the development of comparative criminal justice research from a U.S. perspective. However, in recent years, a growing consensus that America’s criminal justice policies and practices are too expensive, ineffective, excessively punitive, and often inhumane has laid the ground for a new phase of soul-searching. This article argues for an explicit rediscovering of comparative criminal justice policy in America, which would prove extremely helpful in providing bold yet practicable solutions in the current commendable but unimaginative era of criminal justice reform. We first contend that American exceptionalism is not as embedded in U.S. penal policy and culture as the past few decades might seem to suggest. Second, we discuss the main causes of the gradual demise of the comparative criminal justice enterprise in America. Finally, we discuss two areas of U.S. criminal justice reform suggesting mechanisms of comparative criminal justice policy that should be nurtured: (1) new prison reform initiatives pointing to renewed openness to comparative insights and (2) the growing chorus calling for prosecutorial reform, showing how many of the reform ideas proffered tap into characteristics found in continental systems.

Racial animus and its association with punitive sentencing and crime types: Do Australian community attitudes reflect the United States’?

“…The lack of support for American exceptionalism is difficult to explain, but may reflect observations that U.S. crime policies are possibly moving away from “tough on crime” to “smart on crime” approaches (Corda & Hester, 2021; Green, 2013, 2015). While the idea of American exceptionalism has been discussed amongst U.S. politicians and commentators for decades (Garland, 2020), our findings are consistent with recent observations that “American exceptionalism is not as embedded in US penal policy and culture as the past few decades might seem to suggest” (Corda & Hester, 2021, p. 203). Our unexpected findings may reflect a move away from mass incarcerations and penal popularism in the United States that is not evident in Australia.…”

“…Our unexpected findings may reflect a move away from mass incarcerations and penal popularism in the United States that is not evident in Australia. In the United States, the period since 2009, the peak of “mass incarcerations” (Cullen, 2018), has been described as a phase of “equilibrium” (Tonry, 2016), with some emerging evidence of “seeds of change” (Corda & Hester, 2021). For example, there is political discourse about the importance of comparative criminology, and questioning the effectiveness of mass incarcerations (Corda & Hester, 2021).…”

“…In the United States, the period since 2009, the peak of “mass incarcerations” (Cullen, 2018), has been described as a phase of “equilibrium” (Tonry, 2016), with some emerging evidence of “seeds of change” (Corda & Hester, 2021). For example, there is political discourse about the importance of comparative criminology, and questioning the effectiveness of mass incarcerations (Corda & Hester, 2021). A perceived shift in societal and political discourse around criminal justice could be influencing punitive public attitudes in the United States, contributing to the findings reported here.…”

“…The theory posits greater comparative punitive policies and practices in the United States across multiple dimensions, such as capital punishment, incarceration rates, sentence lengths, and the use of solitary confinement (see Garland, 2020 for a discussion). American exceptionalism has been invoked by proponents of the death penalty (Steiker, 2002), and other penal policy and practice domains in the United States, such as policing, prosecution, sentencing, imprisonments and community supervision (Corda & Hester, 2021). For example, in many U.S. jurisdictions, crime policies minimise discretion in judicial sentences.…”

“…Comparative research examining the theory of American exceptionalism has been limited, with the idea that the United States should do things “its way” contributing a demise of comparative criminal justice enterprise in the United States (Corda & Hester, 2021). However, Kugler et al (2013) examined the theory by using census representative samples to examine punitive attitudes in the United States, Canada, and Germany.…”