In response to heightened perceptions of youth crime, in the 1970s a number of U.S. states passed laws allowing the prosecution of more teenagers as adults. While many such decisions were subsequently reversed, some states continue to send certain juvenile offenders to adult courts.
News of another mass shooting at Ford Hood, Texas, follows other recent high-profile mass killings, such as the murder of 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard on Sept. 16, 2013. As the investigation continues to unfold — and more is learned about the perpetrator and the experience of victims — it is worth considering some relevant data and academic findings that may help contextualize these events.
From Wild West sheriffs trading drinks for votes to PACs pouring on the soft money, cash has long been central to politics. This relationship only deepened in January 2011 with the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which enabled corporations to spend unlimited amounts in support of candidates — and anonymously, should they choose to do so.
The Foreign Relations Appropriations Act requires that the President submit an annual report identifying countries that produce or serve as transit points for illicit drugs. Based on the report, formal U.S. assistance under the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act may be withheld from countries designated to have “failed demonstrably” to meet their obligations to curb the drug trade.
The idea that new immigrants are linked to increases in crime levels is a persistent one with a long history in American culture. Many experts say that some Americans link crime with immigration because it gives them an easy scapegoat, and in surveys typically between a quarter to half of Americans believe that immigration makes crime worse.
