Check out CJCJ’s newest web resource under the Public Education section on the homepage of our website: Interest Groups and Criminal Justice Policy.
This webpage provides a basic introduction of the topic, explaining how the criminal justice system has become a constantly growing and expensive bureaucracy. The criminal justice system includes law enforcement, the courts, and corrections, and according to recent data, total expenditures of the system have increased 497% from 1982 to 2006. The largest portion of the budget has consistently been allocated towards law enforcement, although the largest increase since 1982 has been for corrections.
In addition to an introductory section, the webpage will continue to release sections on:
How Interest Groups Influence Criminal Justice Policy: A National PerspectiveCriminal Justice Interest Groups in California
California Criminal Justice Interest Group Watch
Various lobbyists and special interest groups have and will continue to be uncovered on this new web resource. These and many others will be investigated more thoroughly in the coming months, paying careful attention to how they influence crime-related legislation and more specifically how this in turn impacts the overall prison system.