1 out of every 100 adult American is in prison? True. That would be 2,319,258 Americans in prison — two of them being friends of mine (but that’s another story).
What can I say, I’m embarrassed that this great country is so vindictive that they take discretion away from Judges and jury and try and cram every crime into a one-size-fits-all solution. 20 years for possession of crack — what about treatment and monitoring rather than housing someone in a hell-hole that turns them anti-social? 70% of the prisoners locked up are in for drug charges. Where is our compassion? Where is the long-view of the situation?
And here is my favorite paragraph from the Pew report:
Anderson said the Pew report was not surprising. “We have the highest incarceration rate of every country in the world, including backward and despotic countries like Cuba,” he said. “The problem is that the folks we put in jail aren’t violent offenders or dangerous to society, but mainly low-level drug users or drug dealers. The way we should be dealing with these people is to put them into treatment, which is far less expensive and much more effective.”
Full Article Here From The Baltimore Sun
And by the way, neither of my friends are in the can for drugs and/or use.
Well, that’s my rant for today.
[231.4]
Comments Off