Politics and public servants: Observations on the current state of criminal law reform

In the debate over how to respond to crime and criminal justice problems, p ositions have often been framed along a political versus ethical or princip led continuum. In this article, the author argues that this framework does not adequately capture the complexity of the current debate. The author sug gests several reasons why this is so, and how the political, public, and pu blic service environments have changed in unique ways. Selected key current issues. are reviewed against those environmental factors, and steps leadin g out of this discouraging state are suggested.