[DougWebb]

That time frame also matches the rise and fall for the use of leaded gasoline, which has been theorized to be the cause of the crime rate rise and fall. [1]

You seem to be suggesting that liberal Supreme Court rulings caused the crime wave, and conservative backlash in the justice system curbed it. The conservative backlash may have been triggered by the crime wave, but I don't think liberal rulings caused the crime wave. The recent swing back to the liberal side, with the political changes you mentioned, and no corresponding increase in crime, seems to bear that out.

[1] http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27067615

[rayiner]

I'm not saying liberal rulings caused the crime wave. I am saying that there was a trend towards a more humane justice system that was stopped dead in its tracks for a generation by the crime waves of that era. I mention the liberal rulings of the prior era to highlight how the court system is capable of moving forward toward justice when the political climate is amenable to such liberalization.