John Pfaff was quoted in an Al Jazeera article about reducing the prison population.
John Pfaff, a professor of criminal justice at Fordham University, said to truly make inroads in reducing the prison population in the United States, policymakers at the state and federal level would have to address what has thus far been a third rail in the criminal justice conversation: violent offenders.
“The reforms being proposed — I think they’re all worthwhile and that’s definitely a good thing, but it’s not going to cause the magnitude of the drop in the prison population that people are hoping for, if the focus is on nonviolent drug offenses,” he said. “That’s mathematically impossible. They’re not going to do what people think they’re going to do.”
Pfaff noted that offenses classified as “violent” in the criminal code are not all as grisly and brutal as the popular perception. For example, some states classify committing a burglary, even when no one is home, as a violent offense. Many also charge those who have participated in a felony that culminates in a murder with “felony murder,” no matter the specific role of the offender.
“Academics and policy reformers are more comfortable talking about drugs than violence,” Pfaff said.