John Pfaff‘s research was cited in a New York Times article about proposed policies from presidential candidates about mass incarceration in the United States.
John Pfaff, a law professor at Fordham University, contends that it makes little sense to spend the limited political capital that might exist to overhaul criminal justice on federal legislation that, in his view, is unlikely to significantly change states’ behavior. In his research, Mr. Pfaff has shown how state and county prosecutors have driven prison populations higher by filing more cases than they used to. Any measures to reduce state prison populations, according to Mr. Pfaff, need to focus on prosecutors and the prosecuted. Such measures might include making it harder for county law enforcement officials to send people to state prisons that the counties do not pay for.
Helping defendants could also reduce the number of people in state prisons, which was 1.35 million in 2014. One reason that prosecutors send more people to prison might be that many defendants don’t get competent legal help from public defenders, who have overwhelming caseloads. Mr. Pfaff proposes that the federal government spend $4 billion a year on public defenders in the state and county systems, which he says might be a shield against overzealous prosecutors.