It has often been remarked that given its prison population, either the United States is the most evil nation on earth, or something is terribly wrong with its criminal justice and sentencing policies. We hope for the latter of course, and this month we have invited four experts on criminal justice to discuss what we might do to change our policies in this area for the better.

Mass incarceration as an issue faces a strange political landscape, one in which for many years a get-tough attitude seemed to be the only one capable of winning elections. Democrats constantly found themselves playing catch-up to Republicans, and “more” seemed to be the answer to every question regarding imprisonment. All of that may or may not have changed in recent years, with numbers adding up in a frightening manner, and with quite a few right-of-center figures and institutions rethinking criminal justice policy for a variety of reasons.

The 2016 presidential election will be decided during the course of this issue of Cato Unbound, and it, too, has changed the landscape of criminal justice policy, with the Republican Party re-embracing its formerly unquestioned identity as the party that champions law and order against the perceived forces of social disintegration. Will this new direction last? If it does, what does it mean for the future of criminal justice policy? And if not, where do we go from here?

Joining us this month are Professor Steven M. Teles of Johns Hopkins University, Professor Marie Gottschalk of the University of Pennsylvania, Research Associate Jonathan Blanks of the Cato Institute, and Professor Peter Moskos of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. We welcome your comments and look forward to a stimulating discussion.