The National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009 calls for a blue-ribbon (non-governmental, non-partisan) commission to examine and review our entire criminal justice system and make recommendations for it's potential overhaul. All this after astonishing statistics and findings have been revealed regarding our current (and disgraceful) C.J. system. What kind of statistics, you ask, could be so disgraceful? Consider this...
-The U.S. houses 5% of the world's population...and 25% of the world's prisoners.
-Since 1980, the incarceration rate for drug offenders has increased 1200% (No,that's not a typo.).
-Although African Americans account for only 14% of our monthly drug use, they make up 37% of those arrested on drug charges and 59% of those convicted on drug charges.
-There are approximately four times as many mentally ill people in prisons than in mental health institutions
These are just few of many...and it infuriates me to go on.
As we house more "criminals" than any other country in the world, our education system crumbles, our health care system fails millions of Americans and drug use and violence in our streets continues to skyrocket. It is clear that our insistence on imprisoning our own people for any reason we think of is doing little to create a safer, healthier society. It seems much more likely that we are fueling a bureaucratic fire...feeding money into a system that creates more problems so that we can feed more money into it...and the cycle goes on. We need to stop penalizing people for issues of morality and put a real focus on keeping people safe.
And it will be no big surprise (if this bill passes) that we will come to realize the recklessness and uselessness of our nation's prized "War on Drugs". The rapid increase of our incarceration rate is largely, if not solely, due to the enforcement and criminalization of our drug policies. This would be fine and dandy if we found that throwing drug users in jail resulted in a rapid reduction in drug use...but this is truly not the case. If legalizing and regulating drugs will prevent gang and street violence- it is something we need to seriously consider. If offering treatment to drug users will result in a decrease in drug abuse- it is something we need to seriously consider. If educating our children about the potential harm of drug use while remaining honest with them about responsible use (such as the system we have with alcohol) will help them make better decisions and stay healthier- again, it is something we need to consider. And if taxing the crap out of drugs will create an avenue to decrease our health care costs and provide treatment to those who need it, well...do I need to go on?
Props to Senator Webb in recognizing a serious ill of our nation and bringing it to the forefront. It's about time we start putting practicality before politics.
1 comment:
-The U.S. houses 5% of the world's population...and 25% of the world's prisoners.
People in the US are not afraid of prison. Prison is a cakewalk in the US, they practically put mints on the pillows of inmates. Bring back the chain gang, make prisoners work 12 hours a day of hard labor. Establish harsh conditions like the other 75% of the world's prisoners. THEN YOU WILL SEE A DIFFERENCE IN THOSE NUMBERS.
-Since 1980, the incarceration rate for drug offenders has increased 1200% (No,that's not a typo.).
It's called crack cocaine
-Although African Americans account for only 14% of our monthly drug use, they make up 37% of those arrested on drug charges and 59% of those convicted on drug charges.
Stats are probably true, this is who is selling drugs for a living on the streets where they are caught easily, and then rely on a public defender just out of law school.
-There are approximately four times as many mentally ill people in prisons than in mental health institutions
And who is labeling these people as mentally ill? The VERY qualified mental health professionals who work in prisons? 3 out of 4 inmates labeled mentally ill in prisons will say they are hearing voices or put a scratch on their wrist so they can get out of a gambling debt in their dorm or get out of gang initiations, or because they are physically not as strong as their Roomy who might want a little action in the cell tonight, or they just want to be medicated! These people are NOT mentally ill, they are the weak trying to survive.
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