Posted on 11/30/2006 11:21:21 AM PST by Froufrou
A record 7 million people _ or one in every 32 American adults _ were behind bars, on probation or on parole by the end of last year, according to the Justice Department. Of those, 2.2 million were in prison or jail, an increase of 2.7 percent over the previous year, according to a report released Wednesday.
More than 4.1 million people were on probation and 784,208 were on parole at the end of 2005. Prison releases are increasing, but admissions are increasing more.
Men still far outnumber women in prisons and jails, but the female population is growing faster. Over the past year, the female population in state or federal prison increased 2.6 percent while the number of male inmates rose 1.9 percent. By year's end, 7 percent of all inmates were women. The gender figures do not include inmates in local jails.
"Today's figures fail to capture incarceration's impact on the thousands of children left behind by mothers in prison," Marc Mauer, the executive director of the Sentencing Project, a Washington-based group supporting criminal justice reform, said in a statement. "Misguided policies that create harsher sentences for nonviolent drug offenses are disproportionately responsible for the increasing rates of women in prisons and jails."
From 1995 to 2003, inmates in federal prison for drug offenses have accounted for 49 percent of total prison population growth.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
You want drugs to be legal so people can use them without fear of being prosecuted. In the same breath, you want the taxpayer to cover the cost of drug treatment for those individuals. That is morally WRONG. If an individual chooses a path that causes self destruction, it is not just or reasonable to impose a penalty on the rest of society to rescue him/her from the consequences. That includes medical treatment, welfare, disability...the whole lot.
That says a lot about your social circle. I don't hang around with druggies, nor do I feel the need to campaign for making it easier for them to get drugs or sponge off the taxpayer to carry their dead weight when the drugs turn them into criminals or individuals who are incapable of sufficient earnings to support themselves without taxpayer assistance.
Functional addicts includes nearly every smoker. Even so, their drug addiction to nicotine results in "nickie fits" that can only be satisfied by taking a 10 minute+ "break" away from productive work multiple times a day. It was common in the 30's and 40's for unions to negotiate "smoke breaks" into contracts. People took up the addiction just to avail themselves of the contractually arranged breaks. I saw plenty of that at the phone company in the 80s.
I'm really not interested in "functional addicts". If a current employee or applicant fails a drug test, the job is over. Even unskilled labor a places like Walmart has to live up to that expectation.
Functional addicts includes nearly every smoker.
Yes. So you do admit there are functional drug addicts out there. Isn't this making MY point?
As far as passing a drug test - surely you don't believe that everyone who passes a drug test is drug-free? Or is it possible you are this naive? There are many ways to beat drug tests (again, not info from my druggie friends, but easily availble information) and for that matter, there are many companies that don't drug test at all. Deny the existence of functional hard drug addicts all you want. They're still out there.
Well, the homeless question is getting somewhat off the subject. Mexico : 1970 : spent winter quarter there with architectural class(foreign field trip). Found out they don't have born-handicapped mexicans. If they are born HC papa takes them out and drowns them, buries the body like a dog. You see, mexico is such a POOR society(witness the FLOOD of illegals)that they simply can't afford people who don't pull their own weight. About the only "homeless" you'll find are in mexico city, out in the countryside it's DO...or DIE. Thus our large homeless population is a testament to our WEALTH, we are a fabulously wealthy country compared to virtually all the world. 911 was JEALOSY-driven if anything, just like the palesinian jealosy of israel. In my native Montana the average wage is around $22,000/year, and it's listed near the bottom of all states; in afghanistan it's $200/year. The poorest US state is 100 times richer than a similar ecotope in asia.
I agree...I was just placed on probation here in Lake County,Il. for traffic offences(not DUI)...at my first visit to probation office....this man had my whole history, including offences when I was a juvenille.(35yrs ago) That stuff never goes away. It is with you for life.
On that particular point - fair enough - on a purely intellectual level I actually agree with you. But in real life, it doesn't work as well. It's just that I believe it's cost-effective to provide treatment to those seeking it because of the long-term financial benefits to society I mentioned. But it's not like I don't understand that argument - it just doesn't seem practical to me given the failure of the WOD so far.
The words of a true FReeper, a great American.
Especially appreciated, from someone whose opinions I find to be of great value. [bow low]
I pray right now that I bow lower.
Hollywood hyperbole closed them down. Too bad Hollywood can't be billed for the daily cost of washing urine and feces out of the doorways of businesses in downtown areas. It's a bonanza for bleeding heart liberal politicians in places like San Diego. Mild weather and a huge tax base encourage the lefty politicians to throw out the welcome mat at taxpayer expense.
Point being,damn near everything is a crime now.
Not counting traffic violations, almost every person breaks the law several times each year -- business owners monthly, if not weekly. Virtually every person is a criminal.
In spite of massive lawlessness individuals and society have increasingly prospered year after year, decade to decade and generation to generation.
According to the politicians and bureaucrats each of the 3,000 new laws and regulations they create each year are necessary and are proclaimed necassary stop persons and society from running headlong to destruction. And those are just federal laws. Each State government creates about a fifth that many each year.
But the laws are being violated left and right. Obviously the new laws are unnecessary.
Valid laws prohibit the initiation of force. Such as murder, assault, rape, theft extortion, and fraud. 98% of the population doesn't violate those laws or rights to not be violated.
That's not a political choice. It's the nature of human consciousness to not violate those rights held by oneself and all other individuals.
The founding fathers never intended nor wrote a constitution that would permit the government to turn all citizens into criminals.
It has been a bipartisan affair of congress. Of the three choices, listed most to least favorable.
So long as the duopoly exists in power, lasting change for the better will never happen. A never-ending flip flop from one "evil" to another. Voting for evil always begets evil.
disagree with the premise that it is the responsibility of taxpayers to compensate for people who won't take personal responsibility for their lives.
Absolutely. Also absolute is that taxpayers shouldn't be responsible for paying to apprehend, process and jail persons that don't take personal responsibility to not abuse drugs.
The discovery of drug abuse is usually secondary to a criminal offense. Drunk driving resulting in an accident. Shoplifting or burglary to acquire financial resources to pay for more drugs. Homicide when a drug deal goes bad. It is very common for our local officers to pull a vehicle over for a traffic offense. Subsequently, the driver is found to have an outstanding warrant. A search of the vehicle frequently turns up illegal drugs. Every one of those circumstances was created as a volitional act of the driver.
The discovery of drug abuse is usually secondary to a criminal offense.
I agreed with you that the taxpayer shouldn't pay for the drug abuser's rehabilitation. I stand 100% firm on that. You don't want the taxpayer to pay for the drug abusers irresponsibility of their own life, but then in the next breath you want the taxpayer to pay for drug abuser's irresponsibility for their own life.
Aside from the hypocrisy of that...
The discovery of drug abuse is usually secondary to a criminal offense. Drunk driving resulting in an accident. Shoplifting or burglary to acquire financial resources to pay for more drugs. Homicide when a drug deal goes bad.
Driving while intoxicated is an unnecessary risk to other drivers and pedestrians and that's why it is illegal -- it's a threat to other drivers. Shoplifting and burglary is a violation of property rights. Homicide is a violation of inalienable rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
A search of the vehicle frequently turns up illegal drugs.
Drug possession violates no persons rights.
Every one of those circumstances was created as a volitional act of the driver.
DWI, shoplifting, burglary and homicide all violate a person's individual rights.Drug possession doesn't violate another person's individual rights or inalienable rights. It appears that you're going down the road of claiming communist/socialist/group rights trumping inalienable rights.
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