[FormerACLUmember]

The core of the democrat party. 100% true blue democrat voters.

[Kenton]

"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."

Yeah, it's a tragedy for the kids, that's for sure. But I don't know of many mommies who've gone to prison for simple possession of a joint, for example.

Living in a household where mommy makes meth in the kitchen is also pretty hard on kids.

[Red Badger]

They obviously didn't poll my in-laws...........

[org.whodat]

This is plan BS, about 30 to 40% of the people in American jails are foreign nationals.

[Leatherneck_MT]

I wonder how many of these people are in jail for non-violent offenses.

[Myrddin]

"Misguided policies that create harsher sentences for nonviolent drug offenses are disproportionately responsible for the increasing rates of women in prisons and jails."

I've seen a couple of those "non-violent" drug offenders. A couple of female meth addicts. They were stealing from stores all over Pocatello. They took a deskside computer from computer surplus shop while I was shopping there. I called my wife (the duty dispatcher at the PD) with a description of the women just moments after the theft. They were apprehended the next day. The deskside computer was found along with almost $20,000 in other merchandise reported stolen from local stores. The thieves are back in prison where they belong. They aren't fit to be free among law abiding citizens. Both of them already had extensive records of theft and incarceration. They also had some domestic violence convictions.

[Larry Lucido]

"on probation"

Um, folks can be "on probation" for something as simple as a traffic ticket, where after 6 months it drops off your record. I imagine the vast majority fall in this category. The statistics are meaningless.

[secretagent]

The true criminals: those who put drug users and dealers people in prison.

[johnthebaptistmoore]

This number will only increase when Deval Patrick takes over as Massachusetts Governor.

[Dick Bachert]

As we head into the New World Order being fashioned for us as you read this, could THIS a large part of the reason??

"... There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any
government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one MAKES them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.
......just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted -- and you create a nation of law-breakers -- and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Reardon, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with."

- p.411,
Ayn Rand, ATLAS SHRUGGED, Signet Books, NY, 1957

[poobear]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1746408/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1679095/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1746263/posts

Good comments on all four threads.

[poobear]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1746408/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1679095/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1746263/posts

Good comments on all four threads.

[riverdawg]

"... inmates in federal prison for drug offenses have accounted for 49& of the total prison population growth."

If you are in *federal* prison for a drug offense, you were most likely convicted of conspiracy, distribution, or possession with intent to deliver rather than simple possession.

[Brilliant]

4.1 million are on parole. No wonder our crime rates are so high.

[ops33]

Every guilty inmate in prison is in there voluntarily. Nobody forced them to break the law.

[the invisib1e hand]

when everything is illegal, only criminals will do anything.

[timer]

What % of iraqis/afghans are in prison, does anyone know? Anyway, an idea : medical implant chips. Ankle bracelets cost $5/day to monitor, $50/day in a cell; we radio-collar grizzly bears, wolves, etc; why not an optional locator/bio-check chip instead of jail? This would also help with potential kidnap victims. Yes, at first this sounds nazi-like, a blow to freedom, and yet YOU are the one paying $50/day to keep felons locked up. If these are real "rabbit" hard cases, you add pain chips, dead-man chips(power goes off = serotonin-sleep chemical is released into the blood stream = the guy just keels over). Obviously something has to change with 3% of the population incarcerated or on parole, what are your PRACTICAL solutions?.....As to the drug problem : another solution : implantable tubes into the brain, pumping dopamine from an ear clip-on, like hearing aids; individually prescribed by doctors. It is very energy-intensive for the body to make dopamine, thus the drug habit. Inject dopamine directly, keep people happy and smiling...and the drug business goes away. Good news for everyone except the cops/trial lawyers/judges who make a good living off of it just as the drug dealers do....

[Tulane]

Or to put it another way...

NINETY SEVEN PERCENT (97%) OF AMERICANS ARE NOT IN JAIL OR ON PROBATION: SURVEY

I guess the headline doesn't look as good that way.

[ColdSteelTalon]

Yep and I will bet most for non violent crime too. We have too many people in jail for stupid stuff that would be better serverd if they paid restitution and did not have a permanent mark on their criminal record which prevents them from getting a job at a McDonalds.

Yep America is a police state already and Americans are too stupid to realize it.

[goldstategop]

We're too harsh on criminals. Standard Drive By/MSM felon sob story.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus