crime

What "Crackhead" Really Meant in 1980s America

by Donovan X. Ramsey

The memories of politicians and police have been allowed to dominate our understanding of the emergence of crack cocaine in the 1980s. A new book seeks to elevate the voices of urban Black Americans and others who experienced it directly and still live with its effects.

Former Alabama Governors: We Regret Overseeing Executions

As evidence mounts of the number of wrongful convictions in capital murder cases, one Democrat and one Republican former governor argue that it's time to stop capital punishment and reform the prosecutorial immunity that allows unfair prosecutions to proceed. 

Republican Push for More Capital Punishment Echoes Crime Panic of the 1980s

by Duncan Hosie

The Supreme Court decision in 1976 that allowed the states to resume executions coincided with a rise in anxiety over crime and pushed politicians to pledge more executions. 

DC Crime Bill Flap Repeats Congress's Refusal of Home Rule 55 Years Ago

by Kyla Sommers

In the period after the rebellions provoked by the assassination of Martin Luther King, Congress pushed "tough on crime" measures on the district even as the local government sought to reduce racial inequality in criminal justice. "Tough on Crime" won, with results that are still present today. 

Why are the Dems Denying DC Self-Government?

Historian (and HNN Alum) Kyla Sommers connects the recent Senate rejection of DC's local crime legislation to the history of suspicion of Black political power in the District. 

Forget Pickleball—Retired Japanese Gangsters Embrace Softball

Like the rest of Japanese society, the Yakuza are aging, making a transition out of criminal careers a challenge. Forming a softball team—and changing the uniform colors from black to pink and gray—helped some. 

Who Gets to Sing About Revenge in Pop Music?

by Jewel Wicker

Do the racial politics of musical genre explain why songs about revenge are celebrated in country music and turned into evidence for the prosecution against hip hop artists (even when the songs in question are fiction)?

Taking a Longer View, the Crime Spike Isn't a Mystery, but Solutions aren't Easy Enough for Politicians

by Patrick Sharkey

Crime is a whole-society problem that is experienced locally; solutions require deep reforms and can't be subjected to the shifting attention of politicians in an election year. 

Larry Krasner and the Limits of "Law and Order"

by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

Pennsylvania Republicans have launched a futile effort to impeach the reformist Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner, defying local democracy to try to score political points through a backlash exploiting white voters' fears of crime. 

Is Environmental Damage Really Sabotage by Capital?

by R.H. Lossin

 The term "capitalist sabotage" describes intentional destructive activity in service of profit, and is a more accurate label than "accident" or "unintended consquence" for the environmental change that will cause a million unnecessary deaths a year over the coming decades. 

Immigrant Merchants and Law-and-Order Politics in Detroit

by Kenneth Alyass

The Chaldean community of Detroit became a significant middleman-minority through the operation of small stores in working-class and majority-Black neighborhoods. As white flight and disinvestment created increasingly dire conditions, they also became a constituency for aggressive policing. 

Jeffrey Dahmer's Accomplices? Racism and Homophobia

by Kidiocus King-Carroll

Dahmer was able to kill repeatedly because the Milwaukee police were indifferent to the safety of gay men of color.

Forget Inflation: GOP Reviving Willie Horton (and It's Working)

by Will Bunch

"The GOP is partying like it’s 1988 — the year that scary pictures of a felon they called Willie Horton and grainy images of Black crime saved a party equally devoid of actual policies," says columnist Will Bunch. 

The Right Celebrated Bernhard Goetz as the Kyle Rittenhouse of the 80s

by Pia Beumer

In the context of economic turmoil, urban crisis, and racial division, a broad swath of the American public made Goetz a heroic symbol of restored white masculinity after he shot four Black teens who asked him for money on the New York subway.

The Police Have No Legal "Duty to Protect" Anyone. Should they Get More Money?

The Supreme Court has ruled that police officers have no definitive legal duty to take protective action on behalf of anyone. Would this fact influence debates about funding them if it were more widely known? 

Elliott Young: Know the History Behind Today's Crime Panic

The historian gave a minute-long background briefing on what's really driving fears of crime and what should be done. 

"More Cops" is Not the Answer for NYC

by Simon Balto

The entire, terrifying episode that unfolded across 29 hours in New York was a testament to the futility of spending more money on police, and to the lie that police “keep us safe”. 

Rational or Not, Crime Fears Threaten the Subway with a Death Spiral

Can studying past crime panics help cities convince riders to use mass transit systems when fear of crime is on the rise? 

After 50 Years, "The Godfather" Still Has Fresh Lessons For Us

by Sam Ben-Meir

Francis Ford Coppola couldn't have anticipated the Trump presidency and its aftermath, but his 1972 masterpiece nevertheless helps uns to understand it. 

Hawley's Attacks on KBJ Part of Long History of Politicizing Child Abuse Panics

Historian Paul Renfro explains the rising fears of child abduction in the 1980s and the way those fears have been used politically.