US Politics
The Pendulum of Panic: How Crime Terrorized California's Democracy and Reshaped Justice
For two decades, crime was California's dominant political issue, driving tough laws, partisan shifts, and a massive prison boom, before a mysterious decline and a pendulum swing toward leniency reshaped justice policy again. This heartbreaking cycle of fear, reaction, and reform exposes how democracy can be distorted by visceral panic, sacrificing balanced governance and humane principles for the false comfort of punitive rage.
