Crime makes halting comeback as a political issue, even as conservatives embrace softer stance

Franklin Zimring quoted in Associated Press, July 6, 2013

Frank Zimring, a University of California-Berkeley law professor who has written widely on crime and politics, noted that crime rates appear to have leveled out after a two-decade decline. He called the recent GOP efforts “the test run as to whether there could be a resurgence in hard-right, punitive” crime politics. In California, the Republican Party has no statewide office-holders and less than one-third of the seats in the state legislature. In those circumstances, Zimring said, “you consult your greatest hits playbook from previous eras.”