In contrast to government's predominant role in criminal justice today, for many centuries crime control was almost entirely private and community-based. Government police forces, prosecutors, courts, and prisons are all recent historical developments–results of a political and bureaucratic social experiment which, Bruce Benson argues, neither protects the innocent nor dispenses justice. In this comprehensive and timely book, Benson analyzes the accelerating trend toward privatization in the criminal justice system. In so doing, To Serve and Protect challenges and transcends both liberal and conservative policies that have supported government's pervasive role. With lucidity and rigor, he examines the gamut of private-sector input to criminal justice–from private-sector outsourcing of prisons and corrections, security, arbitration to full "private justice" such as business and community-imposed sanctions and citizen crime prevention. Searching for the most cost-effective methods of reducing crime and protecting civil liberties, Benson weighs the benefits and liabilities of various levels of privatization, offering correctives for the current gridlock that will make criminal justice truly accountable to the citizenry and will simultaneously result in reductions in the unchecked power of government.

To Serve and Protect: Privatization and Community in Criminal Justice (Political Economy of Austrian School, 4)

Business & Money

Benson, Bruce L.

Economics

NYU Press

The Economic Anatomy of a Drug War

This book explores the economics of illicit drug markets, the connection between these markets and other crime, and the adjustments these markets make when faced with changes in drug enforcement. Focusing specifically on the most recent escalation of drug enforcement during the period from 1984-1989, Rasmussen and Benson adopt an economic perspective to explore the origins and effects of American drug policy. Rasmussen and Benson argue that effective drug policy is only possible if we realize that increasing drug enforcement can be a 'tragedy of the commons' because criminal justice resources are diverted from other uses and many unintended consequences are generated by politically popular drug enforcement initiatives.

Rasmussen, David W.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Includes details on how private sector institutions can support social order, foster cooperation and reduce violent confrontations.

The Enterprise of Law: Justice Without the State

Pacific Research Inst for Public

Business

Book by Benson, Bruce L., Rasmussen, David W.

Illicit Drugs & Crime

Liberty Tree Network

In the minds of many, the provision of justice and security has long been linked to the state. To ask whether non-state institutions could deliver those services on their own, without the aid of coercive taxation and a monopoly franchise, runs the risk of being branded as naive anarchism or dangerous radicalism. Defenders of the state’s monopoly on lawmaking and law enforcement typically assume that any alternative arrangement would favor the rich at the expense of the poor—or would lead to the collapse of social order and ignite a war. Questioning how well these beliefs hold up to scrutiny, this book offers a powerful rebuttal of the received view of the relationship between law and government. The book argues not only that the state is unnecessary for the establishment and enforcement of law, but also that non-state institutions would fight crime, resolve disputes, and render justice more effectively than the state, based on their stronger incentives.

Criminal Law

Independent Institute

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Benson, Bruce L.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Benson, Bruce L.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Benson, Bruce L.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

To Serve and Protect: Privatization and Community in Criminal Justice (Political Economy of Austrian School, 4)

The Economic Anatomy of a Drug War

The Enterprise of Law: Justice Without the State

The Enterprise of Law: Justice Without the State

Illicit Drugs & Crime

The Enterprise of Law: Justice Without the State