This study analyzes prison admission and crime data to assess whether the penal system’s response to crime has continued to intensify since mass incarceration’s peak and whether the increasing use of prison in nonurban areas helps explain this trend. The findings show that penal intensity has continued to escalate despite falling crime rates and widespread efforts to reduce prison populations. Further, the justice system’s response to crime is most vigorous in nonurban, and especially rural, counties, where more felony arrests for all types of offenses result in a prison sentence. Although not new, this geographic difference has grown in recent years. While penal intensity thus varies notably within states, case outcomes also vary markedly across states. Comparative case studies of dynamics in a highly punitive state (Kentucky) and a less punitive state (Washington) show how formal law interacts with local dynamics not only by creating “statutory hammers” that are utilized by zealous prosecutors and judges but also by limiting the impact of aggressive prosecutorial practices on prison sentences.

中文翻译：

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21 世纪美国的惩罚之地：理解大规模监禁的持久性

本研究分析监狱入狱和犯罪数据，以评估自大规模监禁高峰以来刑事系统对犯罪的反应是否持续加强，以及非城市地区监狱使用的增加是否有助于解释这一趋势。调查结果表明，尽管犯罪率下降并且为减少监狱人口做出了广泛努力，但刑罚强度仍在继续升级。此外，司法系统对犯罪的反应在非城市县，尤其是农村县最为有力，在这些县，对所有类型的犯罪行为进行更多的重罪逮捕会导致入狱。虽然不是新事物，但这种地理差异近年来有所扩大。虽然各州的刑罚强度差异显着，但案件结果在各州之间也存在显着差异。