CRIME THEORIES GETTING MORE ABSURD

That two professors now claim legalized abortion is responsible for the
recent drop in crime makes one think blowing weed must still be popular on
campus ("Study ties drop in crime with rise in abortions," Aug. 10).
Abortion legalization occurred simultaneously with skyrocketing crime and
out-of-wedlock births in the 1960s and 1970s. The professors might just as
illogically have concluded that the breakdown of the American family is
responsible. Like-minded criminologists grasp at any theory that avoids the
most obvious answer.

People with common sense know that tough crime enforcement works. It
protects society from predators and sends the powerful message to would-be
offenders that crime is not as much fun as it used to be.

Prison expansion and tougher sentencing have rolled crime back. Absurd
theories cannot obscure the fact that crime rates have mirrored the average
prison sentence for 50 years.

CHRIS KEMBLE, Milwaukee