Lord Windlesham – författare

In this timely, challenging book, a former minister and current legislator in the British government examines the wave of American federal crime-control laws that surfaced both before and after the 1994 "Republican Revolution" in Congress. Lord Windlesham focuses on the pressure that populist opinion and special interests can exert in shaping crime policy. Several law-making actions and arguments are explored, such as the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (thought by many to be the key legislative achievement of President Clinton's first term), the Brady Act, the "three strikes and you're out" rule, Megan's Law, and so forth. Furthermore, in presenting controversial views on the NRA and its competitors, the book ultimately asks how long America can continue to tolerate the private possession of deadly weapons.

The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 was arguably the most important legislative achievement of President Clinton''s first term. In this detailed account, Lord Windlesham, a prominent legal scholar, British legislator, and Oxford College Principal, brings his experience to bear in analyzing the forces inside and outside the 103rd Congress, which shaped the final content of the Act. Controversial issues discussed include racial justice, "three strikes and you''re out" and mandatory sentencing, the Brady Act and the assault weapons ban, the competing claims of prison building and prevention programs, drug policies, and restrictions on repeat sex offenders after release from prison. The narrative of Politics, Punishment, and Populism continues with the "Contract with America" and the crime policies adopted after the Republicans won control of both the House and Senate in the elections for the 104th Congress. The external pressures, and the Congressional tactics deployed to facilitate passage of such measures as the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, Megan''s Law, and the Prison Litigation Reform Act, are examined in the second part of the book. Subsequent challenges in the courts are also reviewed, including some cases decided by the Supreme Court at the end of its 1996-97 term. The focal point throughout is the impact of populist opinion, as well as that of special-interest groups, upon elected representatives in the formation of public policy. The role of one of the most politically potent of all lobbies, the National Rifle Association, is assessed in the context of the competition it faces from an increasingly activist gun control movement. The book concludes by asking whether an end is in sight regarding America''s isolated tolerance of lethal weapons.

Policies dealing with crime - or at least being seen to deal with it - are a central features of contemporary British political life. Crime and crime statistics receive wide exposure and evoke strong public outcry, and politicians are often judged as much by the speed and tone of their reactions as by their considered responses. In this timely volume Lord Windlesham examines how criminal justice policy is first formulated and then enacted at Parliamentary and Government level. Drawing upon scholarly material and his experience as a former Home Office Minister, Lord Windlesham identifies the pressures which traditionally and typically influence policy decisions. Emerging from his analysis is an appreciation of how the articulation of policy is often less coherent than it seems.Scholarly and accessible, this thought-provoking book will be of interest to the general reader as well as being required reading for academics and those involved in the administration of criminal justice today.

The impact of public opinion on criminal justice policy is the highly topical theme of Lord Windlesham's third volume of Responses to Crime. Like the first two volumes, Legislating with the Tide provides a readable and scholarly analysis of the development of contemporary penal policy. The political contents are examined; the role of the mass media weighed; and the translation of powerful tides of opinion into enforceable law compared in recent legislation aimed at combating crime in England and in the United States. The American example of the effects of populist-inspired sentencing reforms offers a timely warning to English policy-makers. The importance of the steps toward gun control promoted by President Clinton, one of the most high risk policies for any American elected politician, are shown in the recent tragedies of the mass shootings in Scotland and Tasmania. Also topical are the chapters on life sentences, appeals in cases of miscarriage of justice, and compensating victims of crime, each of which demonstrate the heightened significance of judicial review by the courts of ministerial decisions. For general readers with an interest in current policies towards crime and the punishment of offenders, as well as for all those directly involved in the processes of criminal justice, this book will be an indispensable guide. Lord Windlesham writes about criminal justice from his experience as a former minister at the Home Office and Northern Ireland Office, and as Chairman of the Parole Board for England and Wales for six years in the 1980s. He is Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford, and President of Victim Support. In 1995 he was awarded the degree of D.Litt by the University of Oxford for his studies in Criminal justice.