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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Don Bowen wrote:

> > They are probably trying to get repeat offenders off the streets
> > with the 3 strikes and you're out law.
>
> Leading to the United States having the highest incarnation rate of
> any country in the world.  Prisons are a huge business and they need
> a constant stream of input.

Yup, that's right.  Wasn't it Washington state that started the whole 3
strikes law and implemented longer and tougher sentences for second
offenders?
The laws reflect only what the people want, and if I recall, that law
passed by like a 3 to 1 or a 4 to 1 vote.  Other states copied the idea,
and the Clinton Administration touted it as a way to get tough on crime.
It became political and got sweeping approval with little forethought of
how non-violent criminals would pay alongside the violent ones, or how
the prison system would be stressed.  No one cared at the time because
everyone wanted to get tough after seeing so many criminals walk free or
get light sentences.
I pretty much thought that the US has always had the highest
incarceration rate, or one of the highest and that this wasn't a new
thing-I guess not.  I suppose that was true only in my lifespan, and not
true overall.  Another thing to think about is that in other countries,
you don't get jail, you get a bullet or the noose.  Smuggle drugs in
Indonesia and you get death, not jail.  Leading an anti-government rally
in China gets you disappeared, not arrested and fined.  In Russia, the
family of the victim will simply hire a hit man to take care of you... :)
If you look at who is in prison, you see a lot of minorities and poor
people, which says to me that our incarceration rate is a result of poor
education and poverty.  The rich get off and do very little prison time,
if any.

Bev


--
BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm   NW Georgia USDA Zone 7
34.498N 85.076W    Bev is Earth, Ron is Sky