This should really help Specter win back those right-wing voters
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This should really help Specter win back those right-wing voters
There's a new push in the Senate to create something called the National Criminal Justice Commission. One of the co-sponsors is a Democrat, Jim Webb of Virginia, who said this yesterday:
"America's criminal justice system has deteriorated to the point that it is a national disgrace," said Senator Webb. "With five percent of the world's population, our country houses twenty-five percent of the world's prison population. Incarcerated drug offenders have soared 1200% since 1980. And four times as many mentally ill people are in prisons than in mental health hospitals."
The other co-sponsor, as you might have guessed from the headline, is Arlen Specter. Hey, I think it's a good idea, but I wonder how Pennsylvania hardcore Republicans feel about describing rising drug arrests and incarceration rates as part of a "national disgrace."
Comments (35)
We need to build more prisons. Better to put criminals away than to constantly let them out to commit additional crimes.— cdh1
What are the economic projections for legalizing and taxing the THC out of marijuana? It might be a way for the government to feed its addiction to wasteful spending. The problem is, it would be too regressive. Marijuana tax would be paid primarily by the poor and the stupid. The cost for incarceration would drop, though. And Wawa and 7-11 would make a killing. I hear that the Munchies lobbyists are pressuring the Obama administration to legalize it.— Mr. Smith
New York is happily on the way to repealing the Rockefeller drug laws that have put many barely guilty drug users into jail for hard time, which will ease some of the pressure on NY prisons. Just in time, too, as the latest budget idea is to cut the number of prison guards. I know some of your regular right-wing trolls will think I am soft on crime; actually I am just well aware of how much more successful in preventing drug abuse court-mandated treatment programs are than jail, and they are less expensive for the state as well. Many of my best friends would have been put in prison for drug infractions had they been caught, but today are straight as a result of treatment and twelve-step programs.
"And four times as many mentally ill people are in prisons than in mental health hospitals." Seems like some of them got to Congress.— jmc
pffffffffft..............ahhhhh.....dig this, cdh1, my man. We're all in prison now and Obama's the warden. Lights out.
Marijuana should have been legal 30 years ago but some moron starting producing crack and suddenly the drug war had a the villian it needed. My biggest pet peeve about marijuana is that it is called a "gateway" drug. Sorry, wrong the biggest gateway to drugs is alcohol. Once again it comes down to personal responsibilty but God forbid we just let the weak fail.— bird11- We are incarcerating people for pot offenses while letting violent criminals out on parole, some of whom have gone on to kill cops and citizens. I don't know of too many potheads who are a hazard to anything but their pantries, but I do know violent types need to be kept in jail a lot longer than they currently are.— db_cooper
Comment removed.- "Seems like some of them got to Congress." We call them Republicans.— seanfromnj
- Yeah. Good point, bryanc. I mean anyone that thinks that conservatives more than libz tend to advocate incarcerating more prisoners for longer periods of time just isn't paying attention. And of course, libz are also the ones blocking legalization of marijuana. lol!— Talking point sleuth
- From 2005-2007, 39,000 people in PA came out on parole. 149 of those parolees re-committed a violent offense. 0.5%. Dirty urine tests, curfew violations, missing appointments with parole officers put non-violent criminals back into prisons. The point is that, as bryanc says - we need to use incarceration more wisely as a law enforcement tool.— Talking point sleuth
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- Beeps, should prisons even be in the business of accomodating spiritual services to inmates?
- Allowing violent criminals to walk the streets while peaceful drug users get locked up shows how far from reality this country has become. It's ok to have 50 guns in your house but it's not ok to have a nice relaxing bag of weed. Maybe I should just move to Amsterdam.— James TL
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