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Go directly to Jail. Do not pass GO...
2-29-08|WesternStandard.ca|Jaworski

Imagine a country that locks up roughly one per cent of its total population. About one in a hundred gets handcuffed and carted off behind bars. Craziness, right?

Imagine that that country is, of all places, the United States of America.

No, I'm not kidding. According to a recent Pew Report, slightly more than one in a hundred Americans is locked up. Those staggering numbers become more worrisome when you look at the breakdowns--one in 30 men in my age bracket (20 to 24-year-olds) can't go to the local cineplex or go to the supermarket or to the local pub when they want, and a barely-believable one in nine black males in the same age group can't.

Men, incidentally--and will feminists please perk up and pay attention, thank you--are 13 times more likely to get tossed in the clink as compared to women (although the women's prison population is increasing at a clip comparable to the relative proportion of women entering college compared to men). But, never mind, we live in an anti-woman North American culture and blah blah breast implants blah blah Barbie blah blah Gloria Steinem and so on.

Why the massive lock up?

It's not because crime has gone up, notes the report. And it's also not because more people are getting caught. Rates of various crimes have remained relatively constant. They explain the mass imprisonment on a scale never-before-seen in liberal democratic countries as a result of a willingness to toss even minor offenders behind bars, and a rise in "three-strikes-you're-out" laws that extend what would otherwise have been shorter stints. They don't mention this in the press release, but the amount of people widdling chess pieces out of soap for marijuana-related "crimes" is shameful.

It's one thing to be tough on crime. It's another to be, uhm, insane.

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Donation links to NORML (The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) | MPP (Marijuana Policy Project)

 

blondie0420

I find this extremely alarming.

But what's even more alarming is the fact that, in mid-2006, the figure was closer to 1 in 133 Americans in jail or prison. Now, in early 2008, we've come quite a loooooong way!

I think we have a major problem in this country. The reports I heard about this stated that the country, as a whole, is spending more on jails and prisons than on education. Where are our priorities? Where would you want to put your money? Where would you want to send your children? Jail or school? Apparently, we've already decided - and we picked the wrong answer.

I just think back to Mexico's proposed revision of their drug laws not too long ago. Remember? They wanted to make it mandatory for people caught in possession of a moderate amount of drugs to have to go to treatment rather than prison. (Obviously we're not talking about major dealers getting this chance here, just the average offender.) Something like that would not only cut down on prison rates, but also on drug use in the long run. We know that sending drug addicts to prison does not cure them of their addiction. Sending them to treatment at least gives them a fighting chance at dealing with their problems and once again becoming a productive member of society. But, no no, the U.S. couldn't handle something like this. So we, being the "world police," just had to step in and make sure this proposal never saw the light of day.

It's really fucking sad.

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Pompo

The policing of the US has become big business. I compare it to a runaway freight train going down hill.
It's a beast that needs to feed to continue it's existence and growth. We are the food

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