There is something seriously, seriously wrong with this country when 1% of the entire population is in prison. Almost 3% of Hispanics and almost 7% of African-Americans are also in prison. Something is very, very wrong when that many people are in prison.
8 comments:
The something wrong is that more criminals from victimless crimes are now being imprisoned, especially since the war on drugs was started.
Precisely
Is that so many? One percent as compared to how much bad stuff goes on? Not that I know anything but that doesn't seem so bad. The ethnicity of the imprisoned definitely seems skewed though, and always has.
I've been told in a couple of different teacher training sessions that the state of Texas projects the number of prison beds that will be needed in the future by the number of elementary school kids who flunk the TAKS tests... not sure if it's true, but it's a frightening thought.
That is true about the TAKS. And if you compare that number to any other country in the world, that is a huge percentage of the population. In the meantime, the people who took my stuff from my van are still at large, probably because the police are out there trying to catch some pot smokers who aren't doing anybody but themselves the least bit of harm. And when they do fill a prison up, what do they do? Release a murderer so that there will be more room for more drug users.
Well, that's true.
ari said 1% does not seem like so much but if you do the math that is 7 million lives that are being wasted behind bars. think about how many families and individuals that have loves ones that are imprisoned-what has this nation become? where are we going as a country when the most affluent and prosperous nation has more prisoners than any 3rd world country? and most striking is the sentencing PEOPLE get for having a drug problem or for stealing a purse because he or she was raised without a father and their mother is on drugs. think about how effective the media and the politicians advocating for the expansion of the prison system (with plenty of dollars backing their campaigns coming from private prison corporations) have been in dehumanizing so called convicts. you tend to forget these so called "convicts" are PEOPLE! stop the expansion of the prison industry at any cost!
1% of the U.S. population is actually only about 3 million not 7 million.
It is not fair to the Law Enforcers when drug users knowingly commit a crime by using an illicit drug, and then point fingers at other criminals saying "Well he did this...and that..." Thats sounds a bit second grade to me. If something is illegal you don't do it, and if you must do it accept the consequences. Officers would have a much easier time doing their job if they didn't have to bust 750,000 illegal drug users a year. We need to take it upon ourselves to not commit a crime, and not tell the cops they are arresting the wrong people. Most retarded thing ever...
It's certainly not up to the police to decide which laws to enforce and which not to enforce. But the point is valid that drug users shouldn't be arrested precisely because it shouldn't be illegal. But that's up to the legislators, not the police.
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