Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.
Right on Crime
This article is outside of Ballotpedia's coverage scope and does not receive scheduled updates. If you would like to help our coverage scope grow, consider donating to Ballotpedia.
| Right on Crime | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Austin, Texas |
| Type: | nonprofit organization |
| Affiliation: | Conservative |
| Top official: | Marc A. Levin, Policy director |
| Website: | Official website |
Right on Crime (ROC) is a project of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, in partnership with the American Conservative Union Foundation and the Prison Fellowship, that aims to reform the criminal justice system.
The project has a blog and has published books that discuss the "conservative ideas on criminal justice."[1]
Mission
The following is taken from the ROC website:[2]
| “ |
As members of the nation’s conservative movement, we strongly support constitutionally limited government, transparency, individual liberty, personal responsibility, and free enterprise. We believe public safety is a core responsibility of government because the establishment of a well-functioning criminal justice system enforces order and respect for every person’s right to property and life, and ensures that liberty does not lead to license. Conservatives correctly insist that government services be evaluated on whether they produce the best possible results at the lowest possible cost, but too often this lens of accountability has not focused as much on public safety policies as other areas of government. As such, corrections spending has expanded to become the second fastest growing area of state budgets—trailing only Medicaid. Conservatives are known for being tough on crime, but we must also be tough on criminal justice spending. That means demanding more cost-effective approaches that enhance public safety. A clear example is our reliance on prisons, which serve a critical role by incapacitating dangerous offenders and career criminals but are not the solution for every type of offender. And in some instances, they have the unintended consequence of hardening nonviolent, low-risk offenders—making them a greater risk to the public than when they entered.[3] |
” |
Statement of Principles
Below are the ROC's Statement of Principles, according to their website:[2]
"Applying the following conservative principles to criminal justice policy is vital to achieving a cost-effective system that protects citizens, restores victims, and reforms wrongdoers.
1. As with any government program, the criminal justice system must be transparent and include performance measures that hold it accountable for its results in protecting the public, lowering crime rates, reducing re-offending, collecting victim restitution and conserving taxpayers’ money.
2. Crime victims, along with the public and taxpayers, are among the key “consumers” of the criminal justice system; the victim’s conception of justice, public safety, and the offender’s risk for future criminal conduct should be prioritized when determining an appropriate punishment.
3. The corrections system should emphasize public safety, personal responsibility, work, restitution, community service, and treatment—both in probation and parole, which supervise most offenders, and in prisons.
4. An ideal criminal justice system works to reform amenable offenders who will return to society through harnessing the power of families, charities, faith-based groups, and communities.
5. Because incentives affect human behavior, policies for both offenders and the corrections system must align incentives with our goals of public safety, victim restitution and satisfaction, and cost-effectiveness, thereby moving from a system that grows when it fails to one that rewards results.
6. Criminal law should be reserved for conduct that is either blameworthy or threatens public safety, not wielded to grow government and undermine economic freedom.
7. These principles are grounded in time-tested conservative truths—constitutionally limited government, transparency, individual liberty, personal responsibility, free enterprise, and the centrality of the family and community. All of these are critical to addressing today’s criminal justice challenges. It is time to apply these principles to the task of delivering a better return on taxpayers’ investments in public safety. Our security, prosperity, and freedom depend on it."
Background
A project of the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), Right on Crime (ROC) grew from the success ROC founder Marc Levin and TPPF had in 2007 when suggesting an alternative to increased Texas prison spending, arguing instead for rehabilitation programs. Levin later founded ROC in 2010. According to a 2014 article in the progressive magazine Mother Jones entitled "How Conservatives Learned to Love Prison Reform," American Civil Liberties Union deputy legal director Vanita Gupta said, "Right on Crime has done a tremendous job of framing the need to end this country's addiction to incarceration in a way that conservatives are now increasingly buying into." The same piece commented that, "these days Right on Crime supporters are sounding more progressive on criminal-justice issues than some Democrats."[4]
According to its website, ROC states that it seeks to reform the criminal justice system from the "misguided ideas" of the liberals that have thus far dominated criminal justice system. The ROC website states that liberals place "the blame for crime upon society rather than upon individuals."[5] The organization has eight areas of focus concerning its criminal justice reform efforts, including public safety, "right-sizing government" (reducing the "significant expansion of government power" represented by the growth of prison populations), fiscal discipline, victim support, personal responsibility, government accountability, family preservation and leaving more to "free enterprise" (reserving criminal justice "for conduct that is blameworthy or threatens public safety, not wielded to regulate non-fraudulent economic activity involving legal products.").[5]
2016 presidential elections
In January 2016, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush endorsed ROC's statement of principles and has advocated for reform.[6]
Marc Levin, policy director for ROC, in February 2016, remarked that the organization had been "very gratified" with the Republican candidates' stances on criminal justice reform, especially with respect to drug offenders. Levin stated, "[w]e believe in personal responsibility, but we also believe in redemption. Thus, it is not inconsistent to believe that the use of illegal drugs is destructive and should be discouraged, but at the same time prison is generally not the answer."[7]
Work
In 2015, ROC had nine priority issues on its reform efforts are focused, including "overcriminalization" of what it calls "harmless activities"; civil asset forfeiture; juvenile justice, about which ROC states its support for youth programs to curb youth crime; substance abuse; adult probation; parole and re-entry, "the process of reintegrating criminal offenders back into their communities"; the use of technology in law enforcement; prison accountability; and shifting focus to "victim's rights."[8]
Leadership
The following is a list of the leadership for Right on Crime:[1]
- Marc A. Levin, Policy Director
- Derek M. Cohen, Deputy Director
- Greg Glod, Policy Analyst
- Dianna Muldrow, Policy Analyst
- Joe Luppino-Esposito, Policy Analyst
- Adam Luck, State Director for Oklahoma
- Dan Isett, Director of Communications
- Shannon Tracy, Communications and Event Manager
- Michael Haugen
- Jerry Madden, Senior Fellow
- Patrick J. Nolan
Media
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Right on Crime. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Right on Crime, "About," accessed October 13, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 ROC, "Statement of Principles," accessed October 15, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Mother Jones, How Conservatives Learned to Love Prison Reform," March/April 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 ROC, "The Case for Reform," accessed October 15, 2015
- ↑ Huffington Post, "Republican Candidates Have Little To Say About Criminal Justice," February 15, 2016
- ↑ NPR, "Republicans — Then And Now — Talking About Drug Addiction," February 10, 2016
- ↑ ROC, "Priority Issues," accessed October 15, 2015
| |||||||
