Rounding up some recent reads on the politics of crime and punishment before second GOP debate

Tonight brings the second official GOP Prez candidate debate for the 2024 election, and perhaps because this debate is in California we might hear a little more discussion of crime and punishment issues.   Former Prez Trump has again deciding not to show up for this debate, but I continue to hope we might get a question focused on his signature criminal justice reform achievement, the First Step Act (such as the one I set forth in this prior post).  Though I doubt any crime and punishment issues will get all that much attention tonight (save perhaps immigration), I noticed a number of notable recent press pieces and commentaries about various aspects of the politics of crime and punishment these days:

From The Hill, "Progressive purity on crime is coming at the expense of public safety"

From the New York Times, "The Libertarian vs. Conservative Impulses in G.O.P. Policy on Crime"

From the Sacramento Bee, "Why do Democrats in blue California struggle to reform prisons, sentencing and police?"

From USA Today, "On criminal justice, don't just focus on bad news. We ignore progress at our peril."

From the Vera Institute of Justice, "Polling Shows Voters Prefer Crime Prevention Over Punishment"

From the Wall Street Journal, "Mayor Eric Johnson: America’s Cities Need Republicans, and I’m Becoming One"

I sincerely believe that there are lots of serious criminal justice issues that would merit lots of serious discussion and debate through the 2024 campaign.  I am not expecting elevated discussion on these topics during a candidate debate anytime soon, but I will keep rooting for it.

Some prior related posts:

• Florida Gov DeSantis reportedly gearing up to attack former Prez Trump for his support of FIRST STEP Act
• New GOP Prez candidate DeSantis pledges to repeal FIRST STEP Act 
• Interesting criminal justice news and notes from the GOP campaign trail
• "The First Step Act is a conservative, constructive approach to strengthening public safety"
• Canvassing GOP discussion and perspectives on criminal justice reform in run up to 2024
• Will there be any interesting or surprising crime and punishment discussion at tonight's first GOP debate?
• Wouldn't a GOP Prez candidate debate focused just on crime and criminal justice issues be worthwhile?