(5 of 5)
He is, of course, calling for greater social justice, a plea that is often met by the firm cry of "permissiveness." Berkeley Criminologist Jerry Skolnick observes, "It is like a symbolic battle—between those who want to appear tough and those who want to appear soft." What works is what matters. Northwestern's Inbau, for instance, favors stiffened sentences and reduction of technical legal defenses, but also points out that some potentially effective "soft" approaches have not been tried—notably, enforced gun-control laws and elimination of police responsibility for some "victimless" crimes like gambling and vice. Inbau credits the Administration with having created a feeling that something can be done about crime. But for precisely that reason, whoever is President next January is going to have to do a great deal more.