Reclaiming Our Cities From Mayhem – The American Spectator

The arrest of Good Samaritan and former Marine Daniel Penny shows how effective the radicals have been in guaranteeing violent crime, recidivism, and undermining traditional notions of order. Perry and two other subway passengers stepped in to restrain Jordan Neely, a habitual criminal who was making violent threats while shouting he was “ready to die.”

Sadly, Neely died after police and EMS arrived on scene. He was a so-called frequent flyer in the New York justice system, with 42 prior arrests. At the time of the assaults Neely had previously attacked a 67-year-old woman with such force that he broke her nose and gave her a black eye. In 2015, he kidnapped a 7-year-old girl, there was an active warrant out for his arrest for another felony assault. 

The reason Neely was able to continue attacking people was that New York City officials repeatedly set Neely loose after his many arrests. This put him the position to commit more violent attacks, threaten those around him, kidnap children, and continue to abuse drugs.

In cities ruled by far-left Democrats, such as Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco, repeat violent criminals like Neely are considered victims. Good citizens who protect their neighbors are regarded as criminals. The social justice warriors who control these cities bear complete responsibility for the harm done by psychopaths like Neely whom they have allowed to roam freely to terrorize and prey on innocent members of our communities.

The Crime Wave

The residents in our cities are experiencing a surge in violent crime. Random attacks have become commonplace. The victims are mostly the poor and minorities about whom the Left pretends to care. This horrible situation seems of little concern to the billionaires who are financing this revolution. They live in gated communities, eschew public transportation, and get chauffeured around in limousines protected by armed bodyguards.

It is hard to believe that just 12 years ago America’s crime rate was at its lowest point since WWII. What has changed in the last 12 years that would cause this dramatic increase in violent crime? Have Americans suddenly become more evil? Of course not. But there is a clear connection between rising crime rates and woke prosecutors who have abandoned their traditional role of fighting violent crime and instead have taken on a dangerous societal experiment. 

They dismiss crimes committed by disadvantaged groups. They have twisted the language of our laws to justify harmful behavior. They peddle nonsense like justifiable theft and violence, even when committed on the frail and the most vulnerable. They have turned our traditional notion of justice on its head and have unleashed a crime wave without parallel in our lifetimes.

How can liberals be so callous about the suffering their policies inflict? It is simple: They think that having good intentions is what counts. They ignore the harm their policies wreak on those whom they claim to care about. Through many years of dealing with radicals in government we have both observed that when the Left claims to love the poor it is merely an abstraction. They ignore the suffering caused by their misbegotten policies. If the people don’t like the results, too bad. The radicals love their theories far more than the people they claim to want to help.

Pushing Back on Violent Crime

We don’t intend this column to discourage you. Quite the contrary. We are encouraged that the residents of several major cities have successfully pushed back against the radical prosecutors. San Francisco voters removed Chesa Boudin as DA. In Baltimore Marilyn Mosby was defeated when seeking another term. In St. Louis, Kim Gardner was forced to resign. And in Chicago Kim Foxx decided not to seek re-election because of the backlash to the violent crime wave that has hit the Windy City since she took office. When voters experience the rise in violent crime that occurs under radical prosecutors, they give the radicals the boot.

This is a battle that is winnable, and it will be won over the backyard fence and around the barbeque. If we are to reclaim our cities, we must convince our friends and family to join us in this important battle.

To be effective we must understand what motivates the radicals to intentionally create chaos in our cities. This is not happening by accident. Their vision of justice is different than the rule of law that Americans expect from our courts. These radicals and their wealthy backers have convinced themselves that the criminal justice system is so racist and corrupt that poor people and racial minorities cannot receive just outcomes. Because of that viewpoint, they seek to disrupt our justice system from within with the purpose of causing it to collapse. Their goal is not to reform the system but to destroy it. Keeping the public safe is not part of their agenda. Imposing their version of justice is their goal.

There is another way these radicals are causing harm. They mischaracterize their destructive policies as reforms. By coopting the term, they have made it much harder to enact real and needed reforms. We don’t pretend that our justice system is perfect. Too many offenders return to prison after they are released. Prisons are supposed to send inmates home with the skills to be contributing members of the community and good neighbors. But our prisons fail in that important task over 40% of the time.

We Can Do Better

We have worked to fix our prisons so that fewer offenders return to prison. For instance, we worked hard to pass the First Step Act, which shifted the focus of federal prisons from merely warehousing inmates to instead preparing them to be good employees, support their families, pay taxes, and stay on the straight and narrow.

The results are in, and the First Step Act has accomplished what we intended. In fact, the results are better than many predicted. The Bureau of Prisons recently reported the recidivism rate for inmates released by the First Step Act is a remarkably low 12.4%. In contrast, the rate for the rest of the inmates released by the bureau is 43%. Those released under the First Step Act cut the typical recidivism rate by two-thirds.

As a result, communities are safer with fewer victims and the taxpayers are paying less for courts, police, and prisons. This is just what conservatives have been working toward. That is what happens when conservative principles are applied to government institutions.

We hope you will join us in the battle to reclaim our cities from radical social justice warriors and restore peace in our neighborhoods. In Isaiah 32:18, the Lord says, “My people will live in peaceful communities, in secure homes, and tranquil places of rest.” That is the right order God wants for us. That is our vision for reclaiming our cities.

Newt Gingrich was Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. For more commentary by Newt, visit Gingrich360.com.

Pat Nolan is Director Emeritus of the Nolan Center for Justice at the ACU Foundation.