Peter Moskos is an American professor at

John Jay College of Criminal Justice The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts ...

in the Department of Law, Police Science, and Criminal Justice Administration and the

CUNY Graduate Center The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the C ...

in the Department of Sociology. He is a former Baltimore Police Department officer. The son of military and

Greek American Greek Americans ( el, Ελληνοαμερικανοί ''Ellinoamerikanoí'' ''Ellinoamerikánoi'' ) are Americans of full or partial Greek ancestry. The lowest estimate is that 1.2 million Americans are of Greek descent while the highest e ...

sociologist

Charles Moskos Charles Constantine Moskos, Jr. (May 20, 1934 – May 31, 2008) was a sociologist of the United States military and a professor at Northwestern University. Described as the nation's "most influential military sociologist" by ''The Wall Street Jour ...

, he specializes in policing, crime, and punishment. Moskos was listed by ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' as one of their "Brave Thinkers of 2011" for his book ''In Defense of Flogging''. ''In Defense of Flogging'' proposes giving individuals convicted of a crime a choice between incarceration and corporal punishment.

''Cop in the Hood''

Moskos wrote the award-winning 2008 book ''Cop in the Hood'', describing his doctoral experiences of participant observation as a police officer in Baltimore's Eastern District from 1999 to 2001. Moskos, a Harvard graduate student raised in a white middle-class liberal household, describes his first-hand experiences with poverty and violent crime in the Baltimore Police Department's Eastern District which encompassed a predominantly

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

ghetto of East Baltimore. In the book, Moskos argues in favor of reforming the criminal justice system and the legalization of drugs. After calling for drug legalization in a ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'' op-ed, Moskos was criticized by

Gil Kerlikowske Richard Gil Kerlikowske (born November 23, 1949) is a former Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He assumed office on March 6, 2014 and retired January 20, 2017. He also served as the Director of the Office of National Drug Cont ...

, and the president of the

International Association of Chiefs of Police International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) is a nonprofit organization based in Alexandria, Virginia (United States). It is the world's largest professional association for police The police are a Law enforcement organization, c ...

, Russell B. Laine.

Corporal punishment

Moskos second book advocated

judicial corporal punishment The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

(specifically,

flogging Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on ...

) as a voluntary alternative to incarceration. One reviewer for ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

'' responded by saying: "Perhaps the most damning evidence of the broken American prison system is that it makes a proposal to reinstate flogging appear almost reasonable. Almost".

References

External links

Professor Peter C. Moskos John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Video (and audio) of interview/conversation with Moskos
by

Will Wilkinson Will Wilkinson (born 1973) is an American writer. He was born in Independence, Missouri, and grew up in Marshalltown, Iowa. He graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 1995, received an M.A. in philosophy from Northern Illinois Univers ...

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Moskos, Peter Harvard University alumni Baltimore Police Department officers John Jay College of Criminal Justice faculty Graduate Center, CUNY faculty Princeton University alumni American people of Greek descent American people of German descent Living people 1971 births