The liberal dream of smart detention? Algorithms and the politics of pretrial detention in the US states
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6090199 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Georg Wenzelburger (0000-0001-6195-7664, Institute of European Studies Saarland University Saarbrücken Germany, corresponding author), Pascal D König (0000-0001-9466-4024, Department of Social Sciences TU Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern Germany) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 325-347 |
| Publication date | 2022-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Law & Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0265-8240 • E-ISSN: 1467-9930 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/lapo.12197 |
| OpenAlex | W4298623234 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 65 |
In the 2000s and 2010s, US states have seen an important wave of change in criminal justice policies toward a “smart on crime” approach. In this context, several states have rolled out algorithmic risk assessment tools for statewide use in pretrial decisions, whereas some others have not, and still others are moving back from using such tools again. The present article examines the explanations for this variance. To this end, it tests competing expectations about the role of functional pressures, including fiscal strain and the party‐political balance of power. The findings show that functional pressures, policy diffusion, and politics affect the likelihood that algorithmic tools will be used in criminal justice. Democratic control of both the state executive and legislative branches increases the likelihood that a state will use these tools, indicating that Republicans are reluctant to leave the “tough on crime” paradigm behind and to advance the “smart on crime” approach
Algorithm · Balance (ability · Context (archaeology · Criminal justice · Criminology · Democracy · Economics · Law and economics · Legislature · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · State (computer science · Variance (accounting · Computer Science · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Policy Transfer and Learning · Psychology · Accounting
Public Policy
Caught
Layers of Bias
Analysis of Covariance with Qualitative Data
Agendas, alternatives, and public policies
The Crisis Imperative
The Empirical Case for Pretrial Risk Assessment Instruments
The Culture of ControlCrime and Social Order in Contemporary Society
The Politics of Imprisonment
The Myth of Mob Rule
Incarceration Nation
Cheap on Crime
The Prison and the Gallows
Evaluating the evidence in algorithmic evidence-based decision-making
Ideologies and crime
Smart on crime
US penal-reform catalysts, drivers, and prospects
Bifurcation nation
The mismeasure of punishment
Algorithmic risk governance
Critical Junctures and Conditions of Change
Predictions of Dangerousness in Sentencing
Uncertainty, risk and the use of algorithms in policy decisions
Cell blocks & red ink
When Politicization Stops Algorithms in Criminal Justice
Taking Time Seriously
Learning from Uncle Sam? Exploring U.S. Influences on British Crime Control Policy
Theories of the Policy Process
The Politics of Diffusion
Four Ways We Can Improve Policy Diffusion Research
Failures
Modeling Regional Effects on State Policy Diffusion
Back to the Future
Understanding Interaction Models
Shifting Constellations of Actors and Their Influence on Policy Diffusion
The Politics and Administration of Privatization
Throwing Out the Baby with the Bath Water
Dirty Pool
Governments and unpopular social policy reform
Tax Innovation in the States
The Mechanisms of Policy Diffusion
The Dynamics of State Policy Liberalism, 1936–2014
A Research Agenda on Reform
Locked In? Conservative Reform and the Future of Mass Incarceration
The End of an Era? Understanding the Contradictions of Criminal Justice Reform
Triggers for policy change
The Adoption of State Climate Change Policies and Renewable Portfolio Standards
Using Geographic Information Systems to Study Interstate Competition
State Lottery Adoptions as Policy Innovations
Imprisonment and Social Classification in Five Common-Law Democracies, 1955-1985
Toward a Political Model of Incarceration
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |