Criminal behavior, authority, and civil liberties a fine line Bethany J. Royer In the U.S.

. and other democratic societies there is always a dilemma in dealing with criminal behavior. On one hand, there is a desire to control various forms of deviance through government authority while at the same time an expectation of individual freedoms to be protected from the same government authorities. This leads to the question of whether or not we are able to stri e a balance between the two. !ave we been doing a good "ob at #ever$ maintaining a balance or will an #supposed$ increase in crime force us to live in a society with repressive authority% Is there a way to maintain civil rights and at the same time control or reduce criminal behavior% &et's begin with the fact criminal behavior in the United States is not a simplistic wash of the good versus the bad, and neither is it an ever steady rising tide. (or instance, if questioned as to which state would have higher violent crime percentages, )ew *or or Tennessee, one would assume the former but they would be wrong. The state with the highest number of violent crimes per +,,,,,, population in the United States as of -,+is Tennessee #.raine / Sauter, -,+0$. 1 response that may shoc a lot of individuals given the propensity to believe the larger cities within )ew *or , for example, would circumvent a higher rate of violent crime. !owever, crime rose nationally only + percent in -,+-, a first given the last two decades has actually been seeing a reduction. Interestingly enough, the (.I reports states, cities, and counties should not be graded according to these statistics because they do not ta e into account 2the variables molding crime in those areas2 #(.I, -,+0$. 1 statement made for good reason, as too often there is an immediate blan et assumption as to the why a particular city, county or

state holds a significant numerical crime rate #or not$ and thus assumptions are made as to what circumstances thus rates are caused by or attributed to, not to mention the negative attributes that would then harm those associated communities. &et3s loo at this further. If one were to simply eep trac of the number incarcerated either in prison or "ail the numbers would not show anything more than either stabili4ation, rise or a lowering, but this does not mean that crime statistics has done any of those things. One has to ta e into context the reasons for those individuals being incarcerated. 5epeat offenders being one, as well as the significant difference between a repeat violent offender #rape, murder$ and a repeat drug abuser. (or example, the United States has the largest percentage of populace incarcerated in the world, -6 percent of the world3s population is incarcerated in the U.S. though we only hold 6 percent of the world3s population, 2and nearly half of those in state prisons are loc ed up for nonviolent offenses2 #Sledge, -,+0$ such as drug abuse. 1 significant problem we are loo ing at, in terms of the United States, is how we define criminal behavior, particularly that of nonviolent drug7related crimes. 8hen we loo at such a country such as 9ortugal, where there was a decriminali4ation of drugs a decade ago, rather than face incarceration, abusers were and are treated 7 abuse is down by half #:ain, -,++$. 8hy won3t this transition happen in the United States, especially given the astronomical number of individuals incarcerated% There are a number of reasons. (or starters, what has happened in the United States is a in to moral outrage and a propensity for criminal statistics to become politici4ed. 1lso, publicity via the media whether in the

form of newspapers or the television, and the marginali4ation along with the sensationalism of a wea er class 7 for instance, criminali4ing homelessness, vagrancy, or squatters. This allows a focus or refocus, if you will, of public attention and possibly even hostility upon a particular class and for the powers that be to 2"ustify greater social control over the masses2 #;aguire, n.d.$. 8hen non7white minorities are more li ely to be portrayed by the media outlet for criminal behaviors in comparison to their white counterparts #<reen, Staer l=, / Sears, -,,>$ this creates quite a problem when dealing with criminal behavior if varied forms of deviance may fall under the potentially racist discretion of those holding power. 1s it is the overwhelming case, those in power ma e the rules, so how can there be a balance, especially when studies such as that by <reen, et al., discovered that the, 2higher the level of racism, the lower the endorsement of preventive crime remedies2 #-,,>$. In other words, those who overwhelmingly hold the power to ma e and place "udgment upon criminals and what constitutes criminal behavior, have a higher level of racist beliefs in terms of perpetuation and severity of crimes. They were less li ely to ma e an effort towards prevention. 5ather, they will or would emphasi4e harsh punitive remedies. 8hat this means to an individual in the United States is that controlling deviant behavior, what is deviant behavior, and balancing authority of such may very well be in the eyes of the beholder. 8here one class may believe not enough is being done, another may suffer under repressive authority, and this may li ewise fall under political lines as it was found 2?onservatives favored punitive policies and liberals supported preventive policies2 #<reen et al., -,,>$.

The only way to maintain civil rights and at the same time control or reduce criminal behavior is to ma e criminal deviance laws, punishment and prevention unbiased, with the latter preventive measures attainable to all, particularly those most in need, lower socio7economic class of individuals most li ely to overwhelmingly represent the criminal population. !owever, as long as those in power are setting the rules and those in power have a higher propensity for racially7created rules as to what constitutes deviancy and how those deviancies are punished, equality will never be reached.

References
.laine, ?. / Sauter, ;... #-,+0$. The most dangerous states in 1merica. US1 Today. 5etrieved from http@AAwww.usatoday.comAstoryAmoneyAbusinessA-,+0A+,A,6Amost7 dangerous7statesA-B-6>CBA. (ederal .ureau of Investigation or (.I. #-,+0$. (.I releases -,+- crime statistics. 5etrieved from http@AAwww.fbi.govAnewsApressrelApress7releasesAfbi7releases7 -,+-7crime7statistics. <reen, D. <. T., Staer l=, ?., / Sears, E. O. #-,,>$. Symbolic racism and whites3 attitudes towards punitive and preventive crime policies. &aw and !uman .ehavior, 0,#F$, F0676F. doi@http@AAdx.doi.orgA+,.+,,CAs+,BCB7,,>7B,-,76 :ain, D. #-,++$. Ten years after decriminili4ation, drug abuse down by half in 9ortugal. (orbes.com. 5etrieved from http@AAwww.forbes.comAsitesAeri ainA-,++A,CA,6Aten7years7after7

decriminali4ation7drug7abuse7down7by7half7in7portugalA. ;aguire, ;. #n.d.$. ?rime statistics@ The 3Eata Dxplosion3 and its implication. 5etrieved from http@AAfds.oup.comAwww.oup.co.u ApdfAbtAmaguireAch++.pdf. Sledge, ;. #-,+0$. The drug war and mass incarcertaion by the numbers. !uffington 9ost. 5etrieved from http@AAwww.huffingtonpost.comA-,+0A,FA,GAdrug7war7mass7 incarcerationHnH0,0F0+,.html.