Crime Control Ideology among New York State Legislators

Laying Down the Law? Interest Group Influence on State Adoption of Animal Cruelty Felony Laws

“…Past research has suggested that there can be a positive correlation between a state's crime rate and its adoption of harsher penalties (Meier, 1992; Taggart & Winn, 1993). Another possibility is that the stringency of state animal cruelty felony laws might be influenced by state legislators’ attitudes regarding “crime causation, crime patterns, and crime control” (Flanagan, Cohen, & Brennan, 1993, 412). Legislatures might decide that they would rather focus some of their resources on the societal causes of animal cruelty rather than focusing solely on imprisonment or other traditional criminal justice punishments (Flanagan, Cohen, & Brennan, 1993, 412).…”

“…Another possibility is that the stringency of state animal cruelty felony laws might be influenced by state legislators’ attitudes regarding “crime causation, crime patterns, and crime control” (Flanagan, Cohen, & Brennan, 1993, 412). Legislatures might decide that they would rather focus some of their resources on the societal causes of animal cruelty rather than focusing solely on imprisonment or other traditional criminal justice punishments (Flanagan, Cohen, & Brennan, 1993, 412). In addition to the six variables used here to measure the strength of animal cruelty sentencing options, future research on this topic should investigate states definitions of felony animal cruelty and the average penalties applied in animal cruelty felony cases to get a more refined measure of the state efforts in this policy area.…”

Legislative Representation in a Single-Member versus Multiple-Member District System: The Arizona State Legislature

“…Other state level studies have focused on the importance of legislator characteristics in legislative decisionmaking (Flanagan, Cohen, and Brennan 1993) with a particular interest on the effects of gender on policy outcomes (Thomas 1991;Reingold 1992). Moncrief, Thompson, and Cassie (1996: 320) lament that "overall, the research on state legislative decisionmaking does not get the volume of attention given to other aspects of the legislature.…”

When Governors Speak Up for Justice: Punishment Politics and Mass Incarceration in the American States

“…While instrumental and conflict-based explanations have indeed advanced our understanding of criminal punishment in American society, we think that they overlook a central element in state politics and policies: the governors' political rhetoric when responding to crime. Opinion polls point to crime being a salient political issue [33,34] one where state governors and legislators stake out policy positions in the hope of claiming credit and advancing their own electoral prospects with voters [35,36]. As a result, gubernatorial rhetoric often centers on crime---its levels, socially destructive and threatening nature and, most importantly, the need for aggressive measures to lessen its incidence and impact on communities.…”