Timothy Noah:

Violent crime has fallen by 44 percent in America over the past two decades, but during that same period the prison population has more than doubled.

Stephen L. Carter:

Officials who fail to take into account the obvious fact that the laws they're so eager to pass will be enforced at the point of a gun cannot fairly be described as public servants.

Frank Bruni:

More than 30,000 Americans die from gunshots every year. Anyone looking for an epidemic to freak out about can find one right there.

Alice Goffman:

People on both sides of the aisle and on both sides of the courtroom now acknowledge that the criminal justice system needs a major overhaul. After four decades of zero tolerance and getting tough on crime, we seem poised for change. Can we seize the moment?

Christopher Jencks:

While the police win most of the battles, they are not winning the war.

Eli Saslow:

Border Patrol agent Elias Pompa performed his work best, he thought, in the rare moments when he could ... manage to feel nothing at all.

Lawrence Lessig:

Are there things that will make our kids look back on us and say, 'Seriously?'