For the first time ever, more than one in every 100 Americans is either in jail or prison - thats 2.3 million people. We lead the world. Texas leads America.
Right wingers begin the Slow Clap.
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2.29.2008
People In Cages
For the first time ever, more than one in every 100 Americans is either in jail or prison - thats 2.3 million people. We lead the world. Texas leads America.
Right wingers begin the Slow Clap.
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42 comments:
That's a relief! There is nothing wrong with locking up the bad guys and if the statistic is true, it shows we are doing a great job. The benefit is shown in lower crime stats in many problem areas around the country. The trend is very positive and we should keep on building prisons...and, once in a while, GET OUT A ROPE!
Other countries have lower prisoners per capita and less crime. Also, by locking up so many people you create an underclass that will never be able to return to society. US prisons do not rehabilitate.
We have become one of the cruelest nations in the world due to our infatuation with imprisonment.
I saw a stat the other day that Texas alone has 10 times the number of prisoners of the entire nation of China.
I'm all about locking away rapist, child predators, murderers, etc. But there is no need at all to imprison all these non-violent offenders. It is absurd and unconstitutional.
Do the crime do the time!
In China most never make it to prison, why they kill them in the streets.
Bur I could see why a liberal gay man in Texas like barry would say that.
Could it be that the US is now a country with no respect for laws BEFORE commiting crimes,bleeding heart attys.(sorry Barry), lenient judges, CIVIL RIGHTS groups? Offenders learn quickly they will be released to SIN again.Thus the lack of fear paves the way for new & younger offenders. Eventually, some are caught. Interesting reading stats in Fort Worth Star Telegram today identifying border states CA,TX & FL(yes borders ocean with nearby Cuba, Haiti, etc) with the largest prison population. Wonder why.. Surprisingly AZ or NM are not identified---YET.
Spent a lot of time overseas and in countries which truly enforce swift punishment for violating laws without 3,4,5 repeats. Fewer prisons because it is known--you do the crime, you serve the time THE FIRST TIME.
When one is released(if ever) serious thought is given to being a repeater....
8:18 - Rehabilitation is not the objective of imprisonment because it has never worked anywhere. The purpose of prisons is to protect society from criminals.
Yes, China reports a low incarceration rate (if you can believe what they say} but uses the death penalty across the board to set examples of the results of bad behavior. Even top level business executives pay the price when they are caught in compromises. Public beheading is the preferred method there.
In China, many other crimes are randomly punished with public "canings" or whippings without imprisonment. We think we are much more "civilized" than that and prefer to lock criminals up.
Would it help our liberal friends here if we had criminal sentences of so many days of torture and let them go? It seems we tried things like that many years ago.
Prison may seem cruel but it is better than the choice of allowing cruelty to be waged upon society by psychopaths. BTW -- the variety of prison sentences befitting the seriousness of crimes serves another objective and rightful demand of victims ... PUNISHMENT! Rehab is a byproduct. If you don't like jail, change your life and stay away! It's up to the individual and not the system.
Bur?
US drug laws and policies are insane.
We should be ashamed of ourselves.
Bootstraps! A lot of the "prisoners" in the prison system are there because of the poor state of the mental health system in the US. Of course those people should pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get over their problem.
8:24, fine. Do you mind if we locate some car thieves and drug dealers next door to you? 9:28, WE should be ashamed of ourselves? Which means you're implying that I should be ashamed of myself, as part of "we". What should I be ashamed of? That I've been a law abiding, hard working citizen who has raised three kids to be the same? What exactly is my role in putting people behind bars in order that I should be ashamed of what I've done. I dare say that if everyone was like me, and you, and others on this blog...we wouldn't need jails or prisons in the first place. And WE should be ashamed? It's OUR FAULT?
Prisons can also be referred to as MHMR shelters.
9:52 - If the individual is a real whacko and not treatable by the system....he stays there. Those are obviously cases where the "insanity defense" didn't work. Mental treatment is available in most of our prisons as a condition of parole but it is up to the convict to use it.
9:27 - I rely on our drug laws to keep assholes like you away from the rest of us.
8:24 - I am not merely "infatuated" with locking criminals up, I DEMAND it!
God forbid we put criminals in jail.
Part of the reason other countries have lower rates is because of their poor prison conditions. The prisoners rehabilitate themselves because it's a place they never want to go back to.
In our country we pander to them with cable TV, weight lifting equipment, conjugal visits, free college education, cosmetic surgery etc. We've made a prison sentence into a stay at a resort. Thus, when they do get out and repeat a crime, they don't mind going back to the resort we call prison.
drug laws and policies are insane? We should be ashamed of ourselves? Man, you liberals are sounding really pathetic today!
If people didn;t use drugs, they wouldn't be breaking the drug laws. They know what the laws are, yet refuse to obey them. Then you liberals wonder why we put them in jail. Could it be perhaps because they commit OTHER CRIMES while on drugs? Nah, couldn't be that, cold it?
We should be ashamed of ourselves?!? Again, really, idiotic anon. post. Maybe the CRIMINALS and LAWBREAKERS should be ashamed of themselves. And remember, we've had people in prison under both repub and dem. presidents, so you liberals ain't got nothing to whine about there!
Good to see all the "educated" comments this topic has brought out! Geez!
What is it about some people, just because they consider themselves "law-abiding" citizens they forget that many people out there were not afforded the same opportunities as them. Not saying this is an excuse to commit a crime, but some sections of our society breed crime and that is a fact. I guess it is easier for you "holier than thou" folks out there to simply dismiss the problems we have in our country and just say "lock em' up".
This is despite the fact that our legal system has been pretty good at locking up the innocent, over-punishing the less fortunate, and imprisoning non-violent drug offenders that are basically just users (not dealers). I guess it is just easier for us all to shut the door on people and not take a hard look at the real problems.
When did we become a country that accepted the notion that we are not responsible for our own actions? Good gawd...it's time to grow up!
Gern, US drug laws need serious overhaul. Zero tolerance and manditory sentencing are just 2 examples of things that need reform.
Drug use is a criminal offense because of prohibition. It's a consensual crime that has more to do with government imposed morality that actual harm to the public. The laws need to be changed to reflect a more realistic approach.
rpm and other whiners - It always amzes me to see that the only ones bitching about our drug laws are the junkies. If we could lock up all of you "consumers" then the whole criminal heirarchy would collapse. OR ... you couild get off drugs and solve the problem without the need for more prisons. You won't? Have a good time in DO RIGHT HOTEL! Then you can really piss and moan about REHAB.
8:18 - You think China is a soft touch on crime? Maybe you should live there. China doesn't declare the numbers of its political prisoners because most of them are confined to their homes. Check out what Amnesty International has to say about that. If anyone under h;ome arrest steps outside, he can be shot on sight by the police! (Uh...for those of you who don't get it, that's a standing death penalty.)
Every one of us here would be a political prisoner in China. A negative word about the state, government, schools, public works, the local cop or sanitation worker and YOU DISAPPEAR! Posession of illegal drugs is a death penalty. Take your drugs over there and criticize their laws. Please!
I'm not a junkie, nor have I ever used an "illegal" drug in my life. But I know that the current drug laws are asinine and most "evil" drugs should be legalized. The "War on Drugs" is a failure and a money sink.
I just love all this doubletalk. IMPRISON ALL DRUG USERS!!!11 *downs a couple of xanax*
I don't feel threatened by stiff drug laws. Could it be because I have never used any of that junk and never will?
8:24 - I absolutely agree with your last paragraph.
Some of these folks WANT to be locked up to escape the realities of life - like working, paying for education, medical, food. Why not?
Most of these folks are scared to death of the free world.
2:10 - your comments remind me of folks who abhor using alcohol and (no I am not advocating drinking)..... but pop prescription pills like they are candy.
Yep, we work around these dudes every day and then meet them coming down the highway...
.....stoned.
11:57, I'm a law abiding citizen who grew up the poorest of the poor and did not have any "opportunities" laid out in front of me. But I did have the opportunity to go to a public school, and I did have the opportunity to get a college scholarship, and a loan, and a job, and a few other things that I went out and earned that led to where I am now. For some reason, being poor was never allowed to be an excuse for taking what didn't belong to me, or doing other bad things. A HUGE majority of people in jail right now had no less basic opportunity than I had.
2:49 - good for you. You probably had really good family support too, setting the example of work ethic.
Unfortunately, bunches of folks don't have that. These are the ones who find their family life in gangs/crime.
3:09 PM - Ok so if a person has not had family support, never learns good work ethics and winds up in gangs/crime, we should for sure turn him loose? Uh...I'm missing something here. (Heading for a Tylenol.)
28 comments, and evry single one misses the point. It's about money, folks. Everything in this entire country revolves around money. If you can pay enough lawyers, fines, etc. you won't go to prison. (Think O J Simpson). Richard Pryor said it: "Justice? yeah justus poor people in jail."
3:21 - you sure are missing something. The poster said NOTHING about turning anybody loose.
Is that Tylenol 3, 4 or 5?
2:49...Great, I am glad for you. You are a success story then. I do not understand why you wouldn't want to use your strength and wisdom to possibly help some of the weaker individuals out there that came from a similar situations as you. You obviously have what it takes, so why do you seem so dismissive with your "I did it why can't they" attitude.
Would you bleeding heart liberal weenies feel better if we sent a third of the illegal alien population of our prisons back to Mexico and shut down the borders?
f lee baily - (hint) Uhhh...I think that money being everywhere is kinda understood. For your sake, should we mention it in every post?
No but once might be appropriate.
Just because I may think drug laws need reforming I am a junkie? You must be listening to too much Oxycontin Rush.
What a pain. They keep locking up all those that I buy pot from. I guess I should feel lucky that good ole Uncle Sam is looking out for me.
They put kids in jail today for possession of tobacco. When we were in school they had smoking areas. It really is about the money.God forbid one of your family members ends up in jail. Jesus said if their hungry feed them,if their thirsty give them a drink and visit them in jail. You people have no compassion or even care...
Being impoverished and/or having morons for parents is NEVER an excuse to break the law. The MAJORITY of people who commit CRIMES are fully aware they are doing WRONG. If poverty and/or having bad parents was a CAUSE of crime then children with affluent nurturing parents would NEVER commit crimes.
That being said, do not kid yourselves that finances are not a MAJOR reason there are more poor people in prison than affluent. People with money can afford a GOOD attorney. Public defenders are often times INCOMPETENT as well as over worked. There have been a number of private practice court appointed attorneys who were VERY disinterested in a court appointed case. So yes, indigent defendants FREQUENTLY do not receive as vigorous a defense as do wealthier defendants.
The United States can keep Cuban cigars out of the U.S. because it is a PRIORITY. There is a REASON the U.S. does not keep drugs from making their way into the U.S. BILLIONS of dollars would be LOST to the Drug Law Enforcement industry. The U.S. needs to either get serious about keeping drugs out of the U.S. or decriminalize drugs and TAX and CONTROL them like alcohol and cigarettes.
The United States has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the world's incarcerated population. The U.S. now imprisons more people for drug law violations than ALL of western Europe. NON-violent drug offenders account for about 2 million of the 7 million in prison, on probation or parole. There are NUMEROUS reasons that the U.S. has an incredibly high prison population. However, I tend to believe it has more to do with BAD laws than the U.S. being chock full of bad people.
Ape ... And your number will come up one of these days. BYE BYE!
That would explain the dwindling Republican Vote.
I grew up poor, didn't have good enough grades to go to college so I worked my but off at min. wage jobs to go through what I see as a waste of time because my father pushed me to get into "something" I now have a decent job where I still barely get by on what I make. But, I don't take advantage of people or situations; I don't rip people off and take what doesn't belong to me just because I am still poor! Being Poor is no excuse, just a cop out! I wish I had applied myself better when I was younger, I know I certainly could be doing much more with my life right now than I am. The only one to blame for this is myself not anyone else! People still must be accountable for their own actions! That is why we have prisons because people think that just because you don't have opportunities handed to you that you are owed "things" not so!
America spends 6 billion dollars a year to house inmates and spends 1 billion dollars a year on education. Something has to change it all starts with children. That's sad when an inmate cost more money to house
then someone can make in a year.
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