Mark Kleiman is a professor of public policy in the UCLA School of Public Affairs, and his latest work has focused on reducing crime and incarceration by substituting swiftness and predictability for severity in the criminal justice system. Before moderating a panel on the legacy of James Q. Wilson, Kleiman took questions about punishment, dining, and cars in Zócalo’s green room.
What’s an obsolete punishment you wish were not obsolete?
Bread and water. I think there’s a serious question about whether you could cut the time served to 25 percent if the sentence is served without any comforts.
Have you ever had to try out your theory of crime and punishment on the students in your classroom?
No. There are laws about such things.
What country gets closest to bread and water?
I’m told Japanese prisons are pretty much Buddhist monasteries—order, quiet, work, discipline.
What’s your favorite restaurant in Los Angeles?
Chan Dara, at Bundy and Pico. Best Thai food ever. I’ve taken Thai food snobs from East Coast cities, and they’ll agree.
What’s the most irritating thing you hear East Coasters say about the West Coast?
Well, the most irritating is that we’re grossly misgoverned and are therefore going to slide into the ocean—most irritating because it’s true.
If you could have given any author five more years of writing, who would it be?
The one that’s on my mind now is Bill Stuntz, who was a professor at Harvard Law School and published a book posthumously called The Collapse of American Criminal Justice. It’s a really stunning book.
What is your guiltiest musical pleasure?
Well, I used to like Carmina Burana, and I’m thoroughly ashamed of having used to like it.
What past intellectual declaration of yours do you now wish to revoke?
What past intellectual declaration of yours do you now wish to revoke?
What is your favorite fruit or vegetable?
Nothing I’ve actually tasted is 10 percent as good as a pineapple fresh from the field.
What was the worst car you ever owned?
Well, I kept my Acura too long. When the sunroof started leaking in the rain, that wasn’t really great.