Commentary OK, I have good news and bad news about the murder rate in America. First, the good news. The homicide rate is not as bad as it once was. In 1995, the U.S. murder rate was about twice as high as it is now. Now for the bad news. While final statistics for 2020 are not yet completely compiled, preliminary figures indicate that, last year, there was an “unprecedented single-year spike” in the U.S. murder rate. Year-to-year homicide rates increased by a jaw-dropping 42 percent last summer (in a sample of medium to large cities), and by 34 percent in the fall. This is according to newly released research from the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice and a group called Arnold Ventures. To put that in perspective, consider that the previous single-year increase in U.S. murders was just 13 percent back in 1968. In other words, this …