Bob Barr, Rudy Giuliani, Zero Tolerance and Common Sense

September 19th, 2007 by Steve

Using the Opinion Section of the AJC, former Congressman Bob Barr just went after the silly “zero tolerance” policies that a lot of communities are adopting around the country. You know the mindset: Reduce serious crime by ruining the future of students who draw guns with crayons, have a pocket knife in the car (or a plastic picnic knife, even), or engage in the despicable act of carrying aspirin or Midol in a backpack or purse.

This mentality, while dominated by Republicans, certainly isn’t lost on Birmingham mayoral candidates.

Barr chose former NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani as an example of this mindset and raised the point that a lot of the statistics these sort of people provide may be bogus:

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, now a leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination, ushered in the modern trend of employing the police power of the government to enforce so-called “quality of life” behavioral norms.

In the 1990s, Giuliani cracked down on a wide range of disfavored activities in the city, including peep shows and graffiti. In fact, the significant decrease in crime in New York City during Giuliani’s terms was more the result of his implementing a new system of reporting crime statistics and of policing assignments — and of heavy-handed use of the city’s power of eminent domain — than it was the crackdown on subway graffiti. However, the notion that going after petty crimes deters more serious crimes has caught hold in communities across the country.

To be sure, Giuliani is taking his local approach to a presidential level, where he is now campaigning as “the Mayor of 9/11.”

It would be a pleasant change, both at a local and national level, if we started applying a bit more common sense when trying to solve societal problems.

Posted in Bob Barr, Alabama Politics, National Politics




One Response to “Bob Barr, Rudy Giuliani, Zero Tolerance and Common Sense”

  1. alec wrote on 09/20/07 at 10:23 am :

    Rudy Giuliani or Vampire Ghouliani?

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