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?'
| 
