From reading some of the comments here, it is clear that not *every* American agrees that too many citizens are behind bars. But then you have to ask, what is wrong with the United States such that so many Americans are criminals who are dangerous to our society? We lock up a greater percentage of our citizens than any other nation in the world. So, either we are locking up too many people or there is something seriously wrong with our country, and if the latter is the case, we better figure out what it is and do something about it.
2
Let us not forget that crimes have victims... your sympathy for the devil argument ignores that FACT that these criminals are victimizers who hurt law abiding citizens. If you CHOOSE to commit a crime you are the wrong doer and should be separated from the law abiding public as you are now a clear and present danger to those who simply want to live in a society with law and order.
1
"The crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s fueled mass incarceration because many white people (who made the laws) saw addicts — largely African-Americans from city neighborhoods — as criminals to be feared."
A false statement in an otherwise informative article. As Yale Law Professor James Forman, Jr. illustrates in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "Locking Up Our Own," much of the impetus for strong drug laws and mass incarceration came out of low-income black communities.
1
It might very well be that "too many Americans are behind bars."
But I'd feel much better if some of my neighborhood's local talent were behind bars, and if the gang members elsewhere who are missing their aim and killing kids shooting hoops in playgrounds were behind bars.
And if the deranged people who are pushing commuters into subway tracks and smack against waiting trains (yes, I saw that video in The New York Post) could be institutionalized and medicated.
1
The title of this article speaks volumes about how the news we consume daily seems to contain "facts" or assertions that are at best, aspirational, and at worst, hyperbolic or intentionally misleading. It's quite fascinating to see so many comments posted by people who haven't sipped the Kool-Aid.
Agree that too many US citizens are behind bars, hard to argue against that, but I think the bipartisan angle is presented somewhat disingenuously. If Obama had come into office with this being one of his aims the narrative from the right would have been "lawless black President seeks to release black criminals from jail". But since Kim Kardashian got into Ivanka's ear, her dad sees this as a visible way to say "see, I'm not racist", and the Republican congress goes along with whatever he says, here we are, with this as a "bipartisan" issue. It's nauseating.
Not enough Presidents are being bars. While it would be preferable and more moral for the President to face a firing squad for betraying his country, sadly we will have to suffice with his spending the rest of his life in prison.
What a joke to differentiate violent and non violent criminals. Are you going to tell me the Sacklers are really nice people, they never harmed anyone, no one forced those people to take Oxycontin, If they were stupid enough to get addicted they have only themselves to blame. Call it Social Darwinism why don't you. How many dead does it take ten's of millions? What about any trafficker down to the dealer on the street? They carry guns and every now and then shoot cops and each other along with innocent people. Let drug pushers out on the street and you'll be condemning millions to death.
Admit you don't care what misery these people caused you just want to save money. We'll pay for rehab. It cost 100,000 to keep a person in jail. Legalize it no problem. Think of all those poor Don's of organized crime. All their best and brightest are serving time. Let them out, the street needs some real innovators. It's only business. No matter how many people they kill.
How come the US is world leader of incarceration rate by far, even compared to Russia and China? And how come that despite mass incarceration people don‘t feel safer in the US than people in France or Japan? Maybe there is something fundamentally wrong in American society. Seeking fault with the individual won‘t improve this uncivilized practice. But who really wants to get more civilized as long as being uncivilized is so profitable.
2
Under former Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to meet Federal Court orders to relive prison overcrowding, he moved prisoners from State prisons to County jails pushed low level offenders out of County jails. With progressive criminal law reforms passed by the voters, meant that misdemeanors are very lightly punished. This has resulted in a surge of low level street crime, such as stealing cell phones, lap tops and backpacks.
2
Big problems seem to attract poor solutions, for some reason.
Crime in the last quarter of the twentieth century was a very big concern, with high rates of violent crimes and the seeming contribution of illegal drug trade fueling it. The solution was getting tough in the spirit of Draco the Greek who instituted egregiously harsh penalties for law breakers. Let it not be overlooked that among those supporting this were leaders in the African American community whose constituents were suffering more than others. The result were mandatory sentences, three strikes laws, and criminal penalties for even non-violent drug offenses.
Today, those laws are characterized as having been motivated by racial animosity as well as misguided treatment of substance abusers as dangerous criminals, as well as producing huge prison populations which are straining the resources of states across the country. To correct them the remedies are tending towards rehabilitation, less prosecutions of minor offenses, early release of even people convicted of violent crimes, and even some assertions that crime is caused by police and prosecutors who target innocent people just to send them to jail. Both good suggestions and clueless ones.
A lot of people can be convinced to stop committing crimes or to seek rehabilitation for substance abuse but a lot of others are really better not allowed among the rest of us. Each case must be considered independently.
4
Someone got wealthy off of the over-incarceration of Americans. Someone profited.
So in my opinion, not all Americans are united behind the need for criminal justice reform. I think more Republicans profited than Democrats but I'm sure there were some Democrat profiteers too.
1
The politicians forcing taxpayers to spend billions of dollars incarcerating non-violent "offenders" should be held accountable.
3
Now all we need to do is to agree we all have a stake in many other contentious areas like climate change or gun safety and we need to find common ground for meaningful changes such as stressing conservation to reduce fossil fuel use or safe gun storage to reduce childhood risk of gun injury. Once we can find agreement there, we can move on to more difficult aspects of these and similar thorny subjects.
Just screaming at each other only makes us all hoarse.
1
One way to lower America's absurdly high prison population: eliminate private prisons. The profit motive is a terrible fit for the task of managing convicts; the only way these businesses grow is if the number of prisoners and prisons are increased.
There are other reforms needed to be sure, but governments are uniquely qualified for this task, wherein the goal is to get people safely through their prison sentences, and back out into society. Government prisons have their problems as well, for sure, but at least they are not motivated to induct larger and larger portions of the population, for money.
Prisons must become more than warehouses, which is the private prison model, and transmute into institutions for educating and reforming convicts; places that encourage personal growth and rehabilitation as the path to the earliest possible release from prison. Oh ....and we really have to stop sticking folks in jail for marijuana infractions, that really is absurdly counterproductive.
3
@Paul Johnson Fortunately, private prisons (as opposed to ICE facilities) hold only a small fraction of the hundreds of thousands of people imprisoned in the US. Less than 5% I think.
2
It is clear the crime is viewed as a legitimate occupational choice in some communities. “No snitching”. Shop lifting is viewed a right, not a crime. Drug sales are routine.
Crime is default occupation when education is shunned and skills are absent. The engine of crime is the broken family, absentee dads, teenage moms, etc.
The high incarceration rate is due to chronic criminality. Most are repeat offenders. Despite their claims of innocence, most know they deserve it.
There is a point where many “age out” of criminal behavior, but younger inmates cannot be reached by efforts to re-educated them.
15
Yes, there are issues with the criminal justice system. But why will no public figure say: "People are in prison because they committed crimes. They either pled guilty or were convicted by a judge or jury after trial. The crime they committed was almost always against victims in their own neighborhood (and if you're selling drugs the victims are the user himself or herself, their family, and the neighborhood). So - if you don't want to be incarcerated, and suffer the lifelong consequences of incarceration, don't commit the crime in the first place. Instead stay in school until you get the education you need for a regular job, then join society as a productive member. That's how non-criminals (the vast majority of the population) do it. If you instead choose to commit crime, it's your own choice, and not anyone else's fault." My apologies to anyone who may be offended by this suggestion.
9
@Stephen: I'm afraid that is too simplistic. A huge cause of so many people being in jail is prosecutorial decisions by DA's offices in terms of how they charge people, and who they charge. Most people make a stupid mistake, usually early in life, that if it results in an arrest and a charge, may haunt them for life. The obvious racial disparities in how our society deals with these mistakes is stunning.
One thing Trump has done is to normalized lying, extortion, bribery, and getting away with just about anything you can get away with. It's all okay.
Too many non-violent criminals behind bars you say. Just sold some pot or a little cocaine. What's so wrong with that?
Let me ask you this. Do you want your surgeon smoking dope the night before he/she operates on you? How about the cop patrolling your neighborhood having done a little cocaine last night? What about the judge, the veterinarian, the teacher, the congressman, the CEO, your accountant who was high on dope last night? That's okay by you?
Just remember these drugs. unlike alcohol, stay in your body for weeks, sometimes months, and they are having effects that don't make you a better surgeon, that's for sure.
Are don-violent scams that cost billions of dollars okay if it's the other guy who's the victim? Non-violent crime corrupts every system in our society including education where scams get a rich kid into a college with the consequence that a poor kid is denied that very seat.
Non-violent crime can be just as devastating, just as violent as violent crime.
I say, do the crime then do the time. And if anything, the time handed out to non-violent offenders is in all too many cases far to lenient.
5
So refreshing to see the law and order comments in this section, particularly from people who live in high-crime areas like myself. Many of the commentators here seem to grasp the simple concept that locking up dangerous felons prevents them from committing dangerous felonies.
I am not sure if progressives disbelieve this concept or accept it as true while reflexively arguing against incarceration of all forms despite the consequences.
15
At one time marijuana was illegal and we were locking people up and now it is legal. It has always been legal for rich, white suburban kids and movie stars. Now, ex-congressman are making money off the next drug crisis, which is going to be similar to the opioid crisis. In the meantime we've got the homeless urban campers high on drugs and booze, stealing everything that isn't nailed down, who belong in some type of concentration camp out loose, terrorizing and traumatizing everyday citizens.
Too many behind bars? I'm not so sure. At least I'm not so sure we've got the right people behind bars.
3
Conservative economist, Milton Friedman, offered cheaper alternatives to our current prison-industrial-complex. BTW, I’ve known heroin addicts who maintained jobs as well-paid cooks because they cared for their children.
https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/milton-friedman-interview-from-1991-on-americas-war-on-drugs/
Locking up poor, nonviolent offenders for long periods of time solves nothing.
On the other hand, locking up the numerous wealthy criminals and traitors in the current administration, is important. They must be brought to justice, sentenced to long prison terms. Many of them have committed crimes of violence and international war crimes, not merely nonviolent offenses.
3
Too many in jail? I think not. The more the better.
6
@n1789
You first.
Oh what's that, you didn't commit any crime? Neither did many of them.
Certainly, the - right people - need to be behind bars.
There are quite a few whose offense is inconsequential compared to the penalty, so a certain amount of reform is required.
But, crooks get - zero - sympathy from me.
Everyone, knows that stealing, or assault, or murder, is wrong.
Do the crime, do the time, no parole.
11
My prayer - may the right people find their way into this troubled arena and give hope to those beaten down by life.
4
Conservatives calling for reduction in the prison population seek to reduce taxes. It is not about justice. If they prevail, those released will be released to poor minority neighborhoods. Support services will be cut, not increased. Law enforcement funding will be high in the suburbs and low in the inner cities. Those in prison will be more and more skewed toward black males. Those released will be mostly white drug offenders.
When you get in bed with conservative prison reformers, you wake up in a cold sweat from all the nightmares.
1
I think we can manage to put a few more away with no harm and much benefit to society - Trump, Giuliani and others too numerous to name.
Follow the money. Someone, or some corporations, are making big money on mass incarceration. If taxpayers truly knew the costs of locking up so many of their fellow citizens, I think we could finally have some change in our systems. But what we have now is a dark system, with profits going to unknown/hidden entities.
1
Ah yes, crime and punishment! We have too much of both and too little resolution of the situations that are created by criminal acts.
The politicians' approach to justice is to legislate a laundry list of possible crimes and appropriate punishments. Over time, the listed crimes become more nuanced and the punishments become absurd.
Thus, we have created the American criminal justice system, an entrenched scam that provides cushy employment for America's most undeserving occupation, the lawyers. It also provides basic employment for America's most hazardous occupation, the public safety officers, and low-wage jobs for hundreds of thousand of clerks and jailers.
The justice scam is paid for by local, state, and federal taxpayers. It is sustained by criminal acts. It requires a steady stream of millions of persons to be persecuted with supervision, imprisonment, and even death.
American "justice" costs too much in taxes and human resources, and is marginally effective at reducing criminal acts. Proposed reforms may reduce the tax burden but will surely increase crime acts.
Punishing crime by a term of imprisonment is a simple act of revenge that burdens the public with the cost but does nothing to address the situation created by crime. A better approach is needed!
2
My impression is the Koch brothers are wanting prison reform because the government is spending too much money on prison.
It gets in the way of their tax cuts.
Their motive is not because they want to do the right thing for people.
2
@Independent You can't dump everything around you that you think is wrong on the Koch brothers. There's only one of them left, and he's really old.....
Bipartisanship is good, to repair damaged common interests. And Criminal justice reform is one of them. Just don't let Trump's braggadoccio ruin the cake, as he tries to take credit of things he has no inkling...and certainly no authorship.
So some crooks stole three car batteries in my hood LA, and the cops told the neighbor that they could file a report, but the values were way under $950, so the crooks, if caught, would likely be given tickets to appear, no arrest. But I missed a day of work, Ana missed a day of college and an exam, and Vecino missed a doctor appointment, and all of us were out for the price of new batteries and related expenses. That's the ripple effect of petty crime, and there are thousands of criminals who steal like that every day. Steal a cheap laptop or phone, and you may be stealing an entire year of academic or business work or other precious information.
29
Greed is again playing a role in the incredibile high number of Americans ending up in jail .
Privately run prisons are for profit , more prisoners means more money .
The system is broken , just like healthcare , education , environmental protection etc .
There must be a better way through education and improved criminal justice to help so many Americans, whose life is being annulled by sentences often unjust or too harsh.
2
This is one of core issues in Cory Booker's campaign. Significant that he co-sponsored bill where both sides unified across the aisle. He should be higher in polls than Kamala Harris, model of over-reaching prosecutor, who would possibly perpetuate her dastardly record in California, where she kept cash bonds in place, keeping poorest incarcerated; kept those who had completed sentence in jail, using them for cheap labor; incarcerated 1,500 for non-violent marijuana violations; and even withheld exculpatory evidence of innocent man until higher court ordered her to release it. We need candidates with empathy and guts instead of misguided, bullyish, shaming prosecutorial zeal (accompanied by glass jaw in many cases--can give punch but not take it) who will realistically work towards strategy of getting war time weapons off the streets (not threatening to take away as O'Rourke naively stated) to make streets safe again. I recall the late, great for me, although she made some wrong calls(RubyRidge, Texas debacle) Janet Reno, who declared in town hall meeting in Miami that we were going to take back our streets, and we all lined up to walk down most dangerous streets behind her leading us forward. We need candidate who will stop massive incarcerations that are biased against mostly men, of color; a candidate who will re-consider placement of drug addicted, those who steal small items to survive, those who trespass to sleep.
Nothing about our industrial judicial complex makes sense. The average cost of holding an inmate at Rikers Island is now 118,000 dollars. I understand that violent criminals must be held in secure facilities, but non violent criminals can be held under house arrest with an electric monitor. When will common sense overtake the American need to punish.
5
A possible consideration for your question:
when each of US is willing to contribute what each of US is able to, given
who we are, are not and
may not ever BE, as well as
may yet BEcome,
to challenge toxic complacency, and
its infectious lifestyles of
willful blindness; deafness; disinterest; ignorance and silence about what IS,
which should never BE, and express
targeted necessary outrage AT...
When each of US, ourselves and
with others, kin, ken and stranger,
choose, to make a difference
that can make a needed sustainable difference for the equitable wellbeing of
ALL! Maybe THEN?
My concern is not necessarily with the number of people in jail, but rather on the kinds of crimes for which we lock people up, compared to the kinds of crimes for which criminals go free, and why.
Take the case of Brock Turner, convicted in California of three felonies: assault with intent to rape an intoxicated woman, sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object, and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object.
The prosecution asked for 6 years in prison. The judge sentenced Turner to 6 months in the county jail.
8
The wrong people are behind bars. Corrupt politicians and law enforcement should definitely be imprisoned for violating the public trust. People who commit petty property crimes should not be imprisoned. People who commit acts of violence, or who encourage such acts through hate speech, should be imprisoned. People who defend themselves against violence should not.
3
@Baruch Would you feel the same if the petty property crime was breaking into your car and stealing the cash you left in there? Would you feel the same if you were imprisoned for calling a law enforcement officer a pig? Would you feel the same if someone shot at you because you went on to their property to take down a MAGA sign?
3
@Dr B
Break into my car...wouldn't like it but there are better ways to handle it besides incarceration. Restorative justice.
It is everyone's right to call a cop names.That should not even be considered criminal, in fact it is considered free speech.
Shooting a gun is an act of violence and should only be allowed as self defense, otherwise yes that should result in jail.
1
Title is wrong. I am a Democrat and I think in My area (downtown Minneapolis) They need to arrest and jail more people. The amount of fights, needles, feces, etc that I see is too high. I don't even see people arrested for fighting.
26
@Morgan You are talking about the homeless. Arrest and jail won't help, in the long run. These people need help. Lots of reasons why society has passed them by. Not an easy solution to be sure. But jail ain't one of them.
3
@Average Human The laws apply (or at least should) to the rich, poor, white, black, male, female... everyone. If it so happens that the homeless are committing crimes than they NEED to be subject to the SAME laws that we ALL adhere to.
4
@Mystery Lits Obviously you miss the point.
1
Part of this problem also seems to the development of the for-profit prison system in this country, which started to expand during the Reagan years and hasn't stopped. Why? Money. Corporations and businesses need customers and their supporters (lawmakers e who enact changes to prison and criminal justice laws) profit off this system as well through campaign contributions. One company, according to an online source, increased its profits from $280 million in 2000 to $1.77 billion in 2017, all at the taxpayer expense.
4
Also important to note that the word "victim" is used exactly once in this piece, and only as it relates the research interests of one of the article's subjects. As soon as 90% of crime victims know that their perpetrators have been arrested and sentenced to some kind of significant punishment -- behind bars or not -- there will be a mass movement for criminal justice reform.
7
Actually, Americans are both unhappy about the number of non-violent criminals that are behind bars, and the number of unsolved crimes ranging from automobile break-ins to murder. One solution is to sentence non-violent criminals to participate in long-term work crews, such as a year of picking grapes and oranges in the California Central Valley and being paid minimum wage, and living in tents. With the money saved from not paying for their incarceration, we can increase the size of police forces and make the rest of safer.
5
Would you let Bernie Madoff out of prison to pick grapes? He’s scheduled to be in there until 2039.
Perhaps we'd all be willing to listen to prison alternatives if the narrative provided crime victims a voice. Good luck finding many stories about criminal justice reform where crime victims are interviewed, or where the convicted is asked open ended questions about the harm they've caused, or the crimes they were NOT convicted of, or how they intend to repair that harm. Tell the whole story. That would be a public service.
15
Incarceration is the closest thing to living hell we have in this country. Every minute of the day is painful. Like torture. As you read this note, low-level, non-violent "offenders" are suffering horribly in every state in this country. Even once out, the stigma and PTSD that follows is life-crushing.
The work of these two politicians is promising and must be expanded upon.
I fear however that he article headline is far from accurate/true: Americans are certainly NOT united about incarceration: Proof: just start reading the comments herein I'll bet there are soon dozens of folks happy that so many are locked up: "they broke the law, they should be!"...etc.
2
"They also talk about the price Mr. Harris’s constituents pay for over-policing."
"Over-Policing"? Pray tell Ms. Rosenberg, just who do you think calls 911 and is demanding a heavy police presence in Harris district? (Hint: it's Harris own constituents) For people who live in urban areas terrorized by skyrocketing crime rates there is no such thing as "over-policing". How hard is that to understand?
21
@mpound Exactly how many 911 calls are you talking about? And how heavy is the police presence in Harris' district compared to the districts of other state legislators?
On top of that, the violent crime rate in Philadelphia is much lower than that in Albuquerque or Tulsa or San Bernarndino. And the property crime rate in Philly is much lower than places like Des Moines or Anchorage or St. Petersburg or Bakersfield or Greensboro or Reno.
@Kevin Brock, Gimme a break. I called 911 in a major west coast city for a domestic violence incident down the street where the victim was screaming, "He's going to kill me!" It took 17 minutes for the cops to arrive. They were just too busy with other calls. Those other calls were not to plant daisies in the community garden.
3
I disagree with this article which states that "every single family is impacted by the broken justice system", and that "substance abuse now affects everyone". Actually our family, which includes Republicans, Democrats and independents, has neither been impacted by the broken justice system nor by substance abuse. That's because we are busy working and we follow the laws. I suggest others do the same if they want to avoid "mass incarceration", whatever that is. In general the reason people are in jail is because, hello, they commited a crime!
42
@Chantal Just because your family does not have anyone in jail and is hard-working does not mean it is not impacted. You pay taxes, right? They pay for the many people who are in prison (many for non-violent crimes), the extra police officers and related officials, and programs that educate children which helps keep them from criminal behavior. You want your community safe from the increasing detrimental effects of opioids especially for people like you who don't get addicted to them, right? Impact does not have to be direct - indirect impact often has a more substantial consequence.
16
@Chantal Absolutely right!
This is yet another article in the NYT’s ongoing efforts to develop sympathy for criminals and make it appear that criminals are actually victims.
To set the record straight, victims of crimes are the true victims; the perpetrators—and those who aid, abet and participate in crime with them—are criminals.
I hope all the progressive prosecutors--and Democratic Presidential candidates--will give serious thought to what it means to eliminate bail, reduce sentences and allow criminals to run loose in our communities. Who is responsible for post-release crimes committed by those not released early? An apology to their future victims will be of small consolation for those who are harmed; and how about compensation and restitution for the actual victims?
Early release or release without bail of thousands of criminals is a recipe for increased crime, and increased numbers of victims. (Check federal statistics on recidivism rates—very sobering.)
Virtually no criminals are forced to commit their crimes; there is such a thing as free will.
It's simple: Just don't do the crime if you can't do the time.
And, please, don’t forget the victims of crime—they have been harmed and need help and compensation.
11
@Chantal you are lucky. Actually, I can say the same of my family. But can you say the say of all your friends and their families? I can’t. And it’s even less true of my community.
1
Not everyone agrees. And those who do agree overlook glaring evidence that they are wrong. If you’ve ever been a victim of a serious crime, you know that the vast majority of such crimes go unsolved. For ever serious felon in prison, there are several at large who belong in prison, burglars, gang members, sexual offenders, and more.
27
"The two parties cannot work together and have stopped talking to each other, and many of their members barely see people in the other party as human."
The Democrats can't even work together, and the far-leftist so-called "progressives" in the Democratic party don't see Liberals as humans. That is the problem.
4
The USA have the highest violent crime rate per capita of all the industrialized world ( violent crime is physical aggression, rape and murder ).
By 8 times superior to the European average.
Also the USA have the highest incarceration rate per capita by 8 times as well superior to the European average.
Almost 1 % of US citizens are in jail at all times . 0.8 % exactly.
For reference , France has a high carceral population, prison are overcrowded but France has 0.1 % of its population in jail. 8 times less.
But the UK which has a similar capitalist economic system as the USA for Europe ( no social benefits , high inequality ,etc...) has an incarceration rate of 140 per 100 000 , double the French or Italian or German rates.
The USA have 740 people in jail for 100 000 !!!
In reverse the prosecution of white collar crimes in the USA is low compared to Europe.
In jail are only poor people thrown to extremities by economic and social pressures.
1
Yet another article in the NYT’s ongoing efforts to develop sympathy for criminals and make it appear that criminals are actually victims.
To set the record straight, victims of crimes are the true victims; the perpetrators—and those who aid, abet and participate in crime with them—are criminals.
I hope all the progressive prosecutors--and Democratic Presidential candidates--will give serious thought to what it means to eliminate bail, reduce sentences and allow criminals to run loose in our communities. Who is responsible for post-release crimes committed by those not released early? An apology to their future victims will be of small consolation for those who are harmed; and how about compensation and restitution for the actual victims?
Early release or release without bail of thousands of criminals is a recipe for increased crime, and increased numbers of victims. (Check federal statistics on recidivism rates—very sobering.)
Virtually no criminals are forced to commit their crimes; there is such a thing as free will.
It's simple: Just don't do the crime if you can't do the time.
And, please, don’t forget the victims of crime—they have been harmed and need help and compensation.
24
Addicts ARE criminals to be feared. They steal without remorse---perhaps not violent, but not victimless. Territorial disputes between pushers are often violent, and pushers are often part of violent gangs.
There ARE superpredators. A few thugs commit, at any one time, the majority of the street crimes that people fear and suffer from. The serial killers and rapists we read about are superpredators by any definition.
We can should not lock up people for drug possession, but must recognize that there are dangerous people in our midst who should be incarcerated.
3
If there really are too many people behind bars... that tells me that we have too many people committing crimes. It would be great if these people stopped committing crimes and would follow the laws..... I'm not in the mood to excuse those who break laws and put them back out on the streets to further commit crimes and victimize those who are law abiding citizens. If you want to release criminals you can take them in your neighborhood Tina.
19
I understand that hundreds of thousands are in prison for disobeying prohibitionists. This is at a cost of $35k-$40,000 per year for each one, just to placate the prohibitionists addiction to punish and jail.
Infrastructure, health, education must go begging in order to fill the prison cells of the prohibitionists, and to create more El Chapos.
Prohibitionists enacted laws that make it simple to plant a few pills, some powder, or a joint on the victim. That troublesome 4th amendment that prohibitionists trash?
Yes, we all know,(wink wink nod). "It was in plain sight your honor", or "I smelled cannabis !". And American morality takes another drumming, rubbed into the gutter by the prohibitionists secret police (The narc) .
The victims life is ruined, can't vote, can't get a job, student loan, etc.
Sleep well tonight, your local prohibitionist is looking for their next fix. Can't let Cannabis legalization get in the way of their addiction to punish and jail the innocent.
So here they go again ! Their next fix. Will you let it happen ?
https://americankratom.salsalabs.org/pressreleaseegglestonresponse
1
I would try an experiment and decriminalize all drugs, as long as the users didn't make a scene, scare people or endanger lives, even their own, but extreme drunks, psychotic babblers and skeletal addicts would be hospitalized. No jail for being under the influence--and in control--or holding small quantities. Cannabis in natural forms should be legal. Possessing large quantities of dangerous drugs--processed cannabis oil or wax, meth, heroin, fentanyl, PCP, etc.--enough to sicken/kill people, would be serious crimes and lead to jail, as would frequent public drunkenness, car theft, bicycle theft, burglary, auto burglary, robbery, assault, forgery, fraud, vandalism, dumping, etc. Might this experiment lead to fewer incarcerations?
16
@Hector Since it decriminalised all drugs in 2001, Portugal has seen dramatic drops in overdoses, HIV infection and drug-related crime.
1
@Hector Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001 and has since seen dramatic drops in overdoses, HIV infection and drug-related crime.
Tina, you omitted to mention that Benedict College locked down all but a lucky handful of their students because the White House and the college administration were so apprehensive of student protest.
There is an irony for you.
One factor in the current climate of bipartisan prison reform is the opioid crisis, which disproportionately affects working-class whites.
Mass incarceration is insidious because it breaks people down physically and psychologically very quickly, and many inmates end up on disability, a huge drain on society.
Another timely article as usual.
I'm sorry but there is still plenty of room for one more, Donald Trump and friends.
1
If we had more people in government like Reps Harris and Delozier, everything in this country would be a lot better. We are certainly not all the same, and we NEED to hear different points of view before we make decisions that affect many people. I always thought that was one of the principles upon which our nation was founded. I also thought that adults were supposed to be able to control their emotions and to reach compromises with others, like these two admirable people.
1
It is heartening to know that elected officials are working together on this disgraceful problem. People who have served their time should not have to continue to serve it forever. They should have the opportunity to be hired and to work free from stigma, to buy a house, to live a life. Our communities are better when ALL our citizens can be contributing members.
1
As long as the GOP is in power, 99% of what the people want remains irrelevant.
6
So many NYT headlines focus on whether we are united or divided about this or that.
I worked in market research segmentation for most of my analytical career and all groups of people are divided in some way whether they be those who buy frozen treats regularly or whether they are in one generation cohort or another.
That being said we do need segments to not be antagonistic to each other and to work to form majorities to accomplish worthy goals such as reducing our highest in the world incarceration rate.
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Americans are united and yet here we are, we private prisons flourishing under this administration.
It hardly matters if the likes of Jared Kushner agrees that too many are behind bars if Trump is still taking money from and acquiescing to the for profit prison lobby.
Bernie is right about at least one thing, almost all of our societal ills can be traced back to money in politics.
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As Baretta said, "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time" but as the song in The Mikado says, " let the punishment fit the crime". Too often, the punishment does not fit the crime. People with three non-violent drug crime offenses should not be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Others, like MS13 members who torture and murder, should never be released back into society. People debate whether the purpose of prison is to punish or rehabilitate but the real answer is probably a combination of of the two.
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It’s refreshing to see that bipartisanship is still possible and that miraculously Trump feels the same way.
Even if reform is mostly focused on low level marijuana offenses it will substantially reduce costs and can be life changing for individuals cleared of those kind of charges.
And maybe if politicians can work together on criminal justice reform perhaps there’s some hope for cooperation on gun laws.
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Not here in Seattle. The crime rate has increased substantially in the downtown area. Many of the crimes are committed by a relatively small group of specific individuals. They are arrested and released on bail, often with the rationale that they are in a drug diversion program. They commit additional crimes within days, if not hours. Our poor excuse for a district attorney is a big part of the problem. We need to get rid of him, and lock these criminals up for good. We need to show more respect for our police, and less for the criminal derelicts.
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@Les Bois that is because you live in a city run by White Liberals. Its the same in San Francisco, Portland ext. Homelessness is out of control. Rich White Liberals screaming about racism while destroying historic centers of culture and pushing people of color even further into the margins.
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Too many and too few. We lock up a lot of the wrong people while the Gordos get away with high crimes and misdemeanors.
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They would be wise to look to Alaska's recent experience. SB91, a bill passed a few years ago, was aimed at probation reform and reduction in prison/jail time. Prison population went down and a prison in Palmer, AK, was closed.
Then SB91 was blamed (rightly or wrongly) on a subsequent quick rise in crime, especially property crime. The outcry and backlash caused a retrenchment, and a bill canceling SB91 was passed. It also was a factor in the loss of the governor and a replacement Trumpite. Now incarceration rates are back up and Alaska is sending prisoners out of state for lack of room.
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@GV Did you have your car stolen and then were told by police that there was nothing they could do? Did you have your home vandalized and burgled? Sounds to me like you were not affected by SB91.... but those of use who were directly affected are happy to see it go and possibly get justice for the crimes committed against us. SB91 was a hall pass for criminals who knowingly weaponized their crimes against the general public. Note that crime rates have gone down since they started enforcing laws again here in AK.
I live in a very high crime community and locking up more offenders would solve our problem. The DA is notorious for dismissing cases where people were captured in the act. And CA changed thefts under $950 to a misdemeanor. The number of items stolen in the community - bicycles, laptops, deck furniture, car break-ins is off the chart. I want the ability for our city to have differential sentencing relative to surrounding communities: steal a bicycle outside our town, under $950, misdemeanor. Steal a bicycle in our town, 10 years minimum sentence. Would this not solve our crime problem in about 3 weeks?
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@Djt A thief sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for stealing a bicycle would have his room and board paid for by taxpayers, and he would likely hone his skills at thievery under the tutelage of hardened professionals.
You see, imprisonment punishes the public and develops better criminals.
@AynRant But I sleep better knowing my bike is less likely to be stolen. And I sleep really well knowing that many more serious criminals are off the streets.
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While it is laudable to work on reforming the system and getting people out we need also to think about the PTSD those folks will surely have and how we are going to infill the educational things one gets associating with people in regular society which being imprisoned as a youngster denies them.
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