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Some parts of America have long taken a tough, frontier attitude to justice. That tendency sharpened around four decades ago as rising crime became an emotive political issue and voters took to backing politicians who promised to stamp on it. This created a ratchet effect: lawmakers who wish to sound tough must propose laws tougher than the ones that the last chap who wanted to sound tough proposed. When the crime rate falls, tough sentences are hailed as the cause, even when demography or other factors may matter more when the rate rises tough sentences are demanded to solve the problem. As a result, America’s incarceration rate has quadrupled since 1970.
Similar things have happened elsewhere. The incarceration rate in Britain has more than doubled, and that in Japan increased by half, over the period. But the trend has been sharper in America than in most of the rich world, and the disparity has grown. It is explained neither by a difference in criminality (the English are slightly more criminal than Americans, though less murderous), nor by the success of the policy: America’s violent-crime rate is higher than it was 40 years ago.
Conservatives and liberals will always feud about the right level of punishment. Most Americans think that dangerous criminals, which statistically usually means young men, should go to prison for long periods of time, especially for violent offences. Even by that standard, the extreme toughness of American laws, especially the ever broader classes of “criminals” affected by them, seems increasingly counterproductive.

A. 어휘
frontier attitude 변경적인 자세(서부개척시대의 무법자를 다루던 태도).
take to 좋아하다. stamp on 짓밟다. ratchet 톱니바퀴의 역회전을 방지하는 장치.
ratchet effect 수준이 낮아져도 그만큼 낮아지지 않게 하는 저지작용.
chap 놈, 녀석, 단골. sentences 宣告(선고). hail 환호하다, 우박.
demography 인구(학). incarceration 投獄(투옥).
quadruple 4배로 증가하다. disparity 불균형. criminality 범죄행위.
Conservatives 보수주의자. liberals 진보주의자, 자유주의자.
feud 다투다, 反目(반목)하다. statistically 통계적으로.
offence 범죄, 공격. classes 部類(부류). criminals 범죄자.
broader classes of “criminals” affected by them 그런 법에 의해서 영향을 받는 넓은 범위의 범죄자들.
counterproductive 非生産的(비생산적)인.