JoeMemphis wrote: ↑Sun Apr 14, 2024 6:53 am
I mean releasing some of those arrested on their own recognizance is perfectly okay. First time offenders who aren’t a danger to themselves or others and who aren’t flight risk.
Fair enough. We lock the rest up.
Now if i remember right the last time we tried the "tuff on crime" thing we found out our prison system was inadequate. Anywhere from overcrowding to insufficient staffing. Which means we'll have to build more prisons of which we already lead the world in.
Knowing that most of the inmates in the new El Salvador prison terrorized whole towns, ya, it's hard for me to drum up sympathy when i see the cruel conditions they are living in....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB7dI0Tk3dw
Knowing that our prison systems aren't much better the question for me is, how did it come to this? That understanding is key to solving the problem. Until then locking them up is easy and nothing but a quick fix. imo it will lead to prisons here that would resemble El Salvador's. i dunno bout you but i'd like to avoid that.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016 ... dbe3ecf836
But let’s start with the numbers. The United States has less than five percent of the world’s population, but about 25 percent of the prisoners. That adds up to 2.2 million people behind bars in this country, including more than 11 million people who move through our local jails each year, all at a cost of $80 billion every year. Meanwhile 70 million people – about one-third of working age Americans – have some type of criminal record
There are a number of reasons, from a lack of investment in schools and economic opportunity, to draconian drug laws and bail policies that criminalize poverty, to inadequate reentry services and employment discrimination against people who have been incarcerated, just to name a few.
or as another poster recently mentioned...
The problem is not the law but the system. First the mental health system was dismantled, then the lower-middle class got priced out of decent housing. If you have any problems at all, such as mental illness or long term job loss, it's the street for you.
I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat. [Will Rogers]