Reason’s July Issue, or Why We Need Magazines

by Jonathan Rauch

Hats off to Reason for its July special issue on criminal (in)justice. Strong journalism examining, among other things, the unaccountable "culture of misconduct" among gung-ho prosecutors (names are named); and the prevalence of wrongful convictions; an immigration detention system "that treats treats suspected illegal aliens like criminals, but with fewer rights." Special kudos to Jacob Sullum for a compelling and, in today's climate, brave takedown of politically sacred sex-offender laws.

I read the whole magazine with mounting admiration. Every article is solid and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, on a subject about which Americans are too complacent. This kind of enterprise is why God invented magazines.