The Only Way Forward

"Black men born in the US and fortunate enough to live past the age of eighteen are conditioned to accept the inevitability of prison. For most of us, it simply looms as the next phase in a sequence of humiliations. Being born a slave in a captive society and never experiencing any objective basis for expectation had the effect of preparing me for the progressively traumatic misfortunes that lead so many blackmen to the prison gate. I was prepared for prison. It required only minor psychic adjustments."

Soledad Brother --George Jackson

A study released last week by the Pew Center detailed just how many Americans are currently incarcerated. According to the study, 1 in 100 Americans are behind bars. Via NYT. The prison industrial complex refers to the imprisonment of certain sectors of society to maintain economic and social order. However, state budget problems in Texas and California, to name but a few, have caused some to turn their attention to the amount of spending that goes into maintaining the prison industrial complex . I also like to think that the ground-breaking HBO series, The Wire, has helped spur consciousness but that is probably wishful thinking.

Nationwide, the prison population grew by 25,000 last year, bringing it to almost 1.6 million, after three decades of growth that has seen the prison population nearly triple. Another 723,000 people are in local jails.

The number of American adults is about 230 million, meaning that one in every 99.1 adults is behind bars.

The statistics are even more staggering when you factor in race.

Incarceration rates are even higher for some groups. One in 36 adult Hispanic men is behind bars, based on Justice Department figures for 2006. One in 15 adult black men is, too, as is one in nine black men ages 20 to 34.

George Jackson's words are even more relevant 30 years later. The inevitability of prison for many of our youth of color is at an all-time high and with legislation such as Proposition 21 in California (that passed 8 years ago last week, but is still held up in the courts so we have yet to see its longterm consequences), that tries juveniles (14-17) as adults, we see that the war against youth continues.

The time for prison reform is right now. A recent editorial in the New York Times explained why there is no direct relationship between an increase in incarceration and a decrease in crime. However, most reform efforts have been unsuccessful. Politicians are maneuvering between mismanaged deficits and showing that they're tough on crime, with little room for a productive conversation about reform, justice or abolition.

In fact, the relationship between imprisonment and crime control is murky. Some portion of the decline is attributable to tough sentencing and release policies. But crime is also affected by things like economic trends and employment and drug-abuse rates. States that lagged behind the national average in rising incarceration rates during the 1990's actually experienced a steeper decline in crime rates than states above the national average, according to the Sentencing Project, a nonprofit group.

Furthermore, incarceration doesn't work to rehabilitate our youth, it instead demands a cycle of criminal behavior that leads to a lifetime of being in and out of the system. Given the tenuous relationship between crime rates and incarceration and the documented proof that prison does not successfully rehabilitate it's occupants, the question must be asked, why prison expansion?

A couple of reasons. The people that are most directly affected by the problem are the same ones that are least engaged with the decision making process. You can't vote if you are in jail, or if you have been to jail for a felony. Yes, that's right, if you have a non-violent drug charge that is a felony, you lose your franchise as a citizen.

But another reason why the prison industrial complex thrives is because it is an industry. There are key players that have serious stakes involved in the money made off prisons. Jill at Feministe details some of the ways that people benefit economically from high incarceration rates.

Prisons are a great way for big corporations to make money -- and it's your tax dollars that are paying them. The increasing privatization of the prison system further enables companies to feed off of the prison "market," with little public oversight. Someone has to build the new prisons that are going up every year, provide prison food, make prison clothing, and create an ever-growing list of incarceration "tools" to better control inmates -- and our government is happy to pay private corporations to do it, even if those corporations routinely cut corners to the detriment of prisoners, prison employees and American taxpayers. Billions of tax dollars every year go to prison corporations, churches, investment banks, defense industry giants and other groups that exploit the prison population for economic gain. All of those groups have good reason to want to maintain our insanely high incarceration rates.

Corporations are also funding politicians to the tune of millions -- $33 million in 44 states in the 2002 and 2004 election cycles. In other words, there are a lot of extremely wealthy and influential people who have a vested economic interest in maintaining a bloated, racist prison system.

It is no wonder that Presidential hopefuls have made barely a peep about the state of prisons, with the exception of Obama admitting his favorite show is the Wire. That is hardly a position. Oh and let's not forget statements made early on by Mitt Romney to "double the size of Guantanamo" to get a nice picture of the conservative agenda with regard to prison expansions.

The Pew study confirms what some prison justice organizing groups figured out a while ago. The prison industrial complex does not work. The only solution is to completely transform the prison system. National prison abolition organizing group Critical Resistance defines its stance as,

Critical Resistance's vision is the creation of genuinely safe, healthy communities that do not rely on prisons and policing to respond to harm. We call our vision "abolition". We take the name "abolitionists" purposefully from those who called for the abolition of slavery in the 1800's. Abolitionists believed that slavery could not be fixed or reformed - it needed to abolished. We believe that prison is not an answer to drug addiction, poverty, or the harms our communities suffer. This system of locking people in cages cannot be fixed or reformed; it must be abolished.

The United States has higher incarceration rates than most of the European countries combined. Why would we need to imprison so many more of our citizens than our neighbors in Europe (and Canada)?

For more information on the prison abolition movement check out Justice Now and Critical Resistance. If you know of other organizations, please put them in comments.

Comments (50)

1. Ms. Mukhopadhyay, there is a basic political reality at work here.

   NO Democrat in any position to do anything about prison reform....will. They can't.

   The tar of "soft on crime" is older than YOU are. It's why they tried "safety in the streets" when the Republicans came up with "law & order"...and unfortunately there is no NBC program called "Safety In The Streets" with Sam Waterston.

   Like it took Clinton a Democrat to get welfare reform with a GOP Congress...it'll take a Republican to take the first step, which is to cut back or (hopefully) end this ridiculuous, counter-productive, wasteful, and ineffective "Drug War".

   It will also take a GOP'er to push ANY kind of "rehabilitation" program, cut back mandatory minimums, etc.

   A Democratic President who TRIED?...would face what Clinton faced with "gays in the military" in 1993. Plummeting poll numbers and a lost Congress. And even if you don't think that's "necessarily true"....the politicians think so.

   Posted by Mask at 03/14/2008 @ 4:31pm

2. Posted by RIO BRAVO 03/14/2008 @ 4:39pm

   What about illegal immigrants, RIO?

   Ooops, wait....remember you're voting for McCain in the Fall!

   heheh

   Posted by Mask at 03/14/2008 @ 4:53pm

3. I applaud your post. My brother works in a prison in Delaware. It's as hard for the guards as it is for the inmates.

   Posted by edwriter at 03/14/2008 @ 5:12pm

4. Mask:

   Peep http://m-pyre.blogspot.com/2008/03/tackling-prison-industrial-comp lex.htmt for a blog post with links to articles on Bill Richardson's prison reform attempts.

   Posted by karlos505 at 03/14/2008 @ 5:23pm

5. http://m-pyre.blogspot.com/2008/03/tackling-prison-industrial-comp lex.html

   Posted by karlos505 at 03/14/2008 @ 5:24pm

6. Mukhopadhyay: The only solution is to completely transform the prison system.

   Uh, sorry! You're off by one critical word, scrap "prison" and put in place "education". Read why black true intellectuals like Thomas Sowell, believes black Education has been so screwed up since desegregation....by ?well-meaning? Liberals out for social `experiments' on black children! Read why among the solutions he cites, including, I might add, the charter school org. I work for, need a total transformation of the "education" system....he's NOT optimistic that the humongous education-industrial-complex is up to the task!

   Posted by Happy at 03/14/2008 @ 6:21pm

7. The public education system, down at the level of individual schools, works awfully well in schools in communities where property values are high. This is because all that money that gets into the schools gets spent on the kids. One of the reasons that education fails in poor neighborhoods is because there is no money for the schools.

   Posted by ZERO 03/14/2008 @ 7:05pm

   That's where you are wrong! But very conventional!

   Sowell gives numerous examples of poor urban schools succeeding today....of course, `numerous' is relative when compared to thousands of under-performing minority schools. The schools he cites in his 2005 book, are doing so inspite of the educational-industrial-complex ("EIC").

   Education--charter schools--is what I have chosen to donate some of my time to, but I am not on the `front' but a background player. Here's what I learned by asking questions:

   - Teachers moving into the charter system are highly motivated, generally younger and they get paid MORE than whatever local school district pays for the same experience level,

   - Charter teachers work longer hours and rarely takes off.....very few substitute teachers needed

   - Charter school teachers spend no time on administrative BS coming down from the EIC

   - They teach in accordance to what works best in any given group of kids

   - Charter schools believe in testing

   - Teachers give out their mobil phone numbers and are available to help their students on homework and such

   - The charter org. I work for sends 75% to 90% of high school graduates to college, from Ivy League scholarship students to at the least, local 4-yr colleges.

   - Charter schools work on less per student than the public school system...which is why the public districts are willing to left some students into charter schools (for eg: District F spends $7k per student, they will provide $5k to a charter org. while keeping the $2k).

   We as a society have been throwing money, where the EIC wants, at the problem and the problem have gotten WORSE, NOT better. Sorry, It's NOT the MONEY, ZERO....It's the SYSTEM...like your rants against our pol. system....my rants is against the EIC system!

   Posted by Happy at 03/14/2008 @ 7:26pm

8. Posted by KARLOS505 03/14/2008 @ 5:23pm

   Speaking of Federal law enforcement and the Federal system....and Richardson is a fave of mine. Wish he'd lasted longer or was on a short list for Veep.

   Posted by Mask at 03/14/2008 @ 7:37pm

9. Posted by HAPPY 03/14/2008 @ 6:21pm

   Second time HAPP has mentioned Thomas Sowell in two threads....little CYA for your Obama attacks, H?

   Posted by Mask at 03/14/2008 @ 7:38pm

10. for-profit businesses. Some things have to be taken more seriously.

    Posted by ZERO 03/14/2008 @ 8:09pm

    Until your posts, I had no idea charter schools existed for wealthy "minors"....The charter schools I have set foot in here in Houston, I have yet to see a white (minor) face. My understanding is most kids come from single-parent families and all qualify for school lunches. Your wife's charter school seems an anomaly...even charges tuition and is for-profit! Your wife works w/different "minors" from the ones "Way Forward" is addressing.

    Posted by Happy at 03/14/2008 @ 11:55pm

11. Many thanks, Samhita! Your blog could not be more timely or important.

    Readers should be aware that Michael Jacobson and the Vera Institute for Justice provide lots of RESEARCH-BASED information about what really works in criminal justice. There's a huge mountain of ignorance out there -- represented by the usual trolls reflexively depositing their usual dung on this thread -- and the Vera Institute for Justice can help. Check out their website.

    Also, Michael Jacobson was recently interviewed on the wonderful radio show "Counterspin." Check this out, too!

    Posted by JakobFabian at 03/15/2008 @ 1:11pm

12. Perhaps laws should reflect more on keeping violent criminals in jails for periods of time and allow for more rehabilitative prisons for lesser offenses.

    But the data does not specify who is jail for what and in what particular incarceration facility that is....but it gives the author a chance to rail against evil corporations bent on profits.lol so amusing.

    The "murky" data on prison populations and crime rate is not murky at all. Crime rates, especially violent crime.....is down.....that is just a fact.

    Drug laws are more difficult to address, bc not all who use are harderened criminals, but they do contribute to overall drug violence. ZERO suggestion of legalize pot, may have a even more negative effect....since pot is a "gateway" drug to harder drugs....that might very make more addicts and create more problems.

    Posted by CPT at 03/15/2008 @ 1:29pm

13. Posted by JAKOBFABIAN 03/15/2008 @ 1:11pm | ignore this person

    Perhaps you would love to tell us how the "correct" way to think about issue is.

    Liberal Facism? Nah....your dung is much too prescient for that.

    Posted by CPT at 03/15/2008 @ 1:30pm

14. Drug laws are more difficult to address, bc not all who use are harderened criminals, but they do contribute to overall drug violence. ZERO suggestion of legalize pot, may have a even more negative effect....since pot is a "gateway" drug to harder drugs....that might very make more addicts and create more problems.

    Posted by CPT 03/15/2008 @ 1:29pm

    what's your favourite drug?

    please, please don't lie and say you never use drugs.

    please.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 03/15/2008 @ 1:54pm

15. CPT - ...pot is a "gateway" drug to harder drugs... *lmao*

    Also, I don't think fascism means what you (and Mr Goldberg) think it means.

    Posted by Deadra at 03/15/2008 @ 2:05pm

16. The only thing that makes prison inevitable is committing crimes. And foisting the responsibility for committing those crimes from the personal level to some faceless, indistinct social force is a huge part of the problem.

    Unfortunately, the argument that education is somehow a substitute for incarceration is a facile, feel-good trope along the lines of "Just Say No." We don't have a crisis of education going on, but a crisis of adulthood. Here's a description of just a few sentencing hearings (federal) that I've attended in the last three weeks:

    A college-educated woman convicted of defrauding the Dept. of Education out of $120,000+ in fraudulent student loans. She spent the bulk of the proceeds at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

    A young man with some community college credits that ran his own web design service, who still committed several frauds and thefts. Why? Wanted cash to buy jewelry (bling).

    Another man--married, with children--who had a very good job as a machinist. Convicted of identity theft and credit card fraud. Proceeds went to rims for his car.

    The fallacy in the education argument is that education doesn't make people smarter. It just gives them more information. Unfortunately, consequences--real consequences--are the only things that have a real impact on behavior.

    Posted by rattlerd at 03/15/2008 @ 2:58pm

17. Posted by rattlerd at 03/15/2008 @ 2:58pm

18. Posted by CPT 03/15/2008 @ 1:29pm

    Pure speculation, with one statement posited as 'fact'; "pot is a "gateway" drug". Anything other than drug war propaganda to back that up?

    Caffeine is a gateway drug. Nicotine, maybe. Alcohol. Then, maybe THC.

    Or maybe that concept is pure bull shit.

    Posted by Malcontent at 03/15/2008 @ 3:23pm

19. The damask rose and the martin.

    Here, in the deep and intense atmosphere of the first morning, the rising sun appears in a magical sky and always, like the light of my mind, a pleasure returns.

    Francesco Sinibaldi

    Posted by Sinibaldi at 03/15/2008 @ 4:06pm

20. Posted by DEADRA 03/15/2008 @ 2:05pm | ignore this person

    Maybe not for you....pot may not be a gateway drug.....but for many addicts of heroin and cocaine, it is or was. Drug rehabilitation centers have often noted that pot was the drug that many addicts of harder drugs tried first.....so while you and your cohorts may find it amusing, i would think that most drug experts are torn on the issue

    Posted by CPT at 03/15/2008 @ 4:58pm

21. Ms. Mukhopadhyay, there is a basic political reality at work here.

    NO Democrat in any position to do anything about prison reform....will. They can't.

    The tar of "soft on crime" is older than YOU are. It's why they tried "safety in the streets" when the Republicans came up with "law & order"...and unfortunately there is no NBC program called "Safety In The Streets" with Sam Waterston.

    Posted by MASK 03/14/2008 @ 4:31pm

    You are wrong on this one, MASK!

    The SMART ON CRIME mantra will eventually replace "tough on crime". Granted, you can't "lead" with this in efforts to gain progressive control of government, but once control is had, you will see al lot of Democratic politicians AND Republicans calling for smart on crime measures that reduce our out of control incarceration and recidivism rates that do nothing but create more victims since the underlying causes of crime are not addressed and treated and non-violent offenders diverted to alternative incarceration schemes that require a loss of freedom but focus on re-habilitating the offender.

    Prison will eventually be for violent and serious offenders, and the rest will get some form of rehab that punishes but maximizes the prospect for reform. For every prisoner who is not reformed through prison, another victim is created when that person is released and re-offends. If conservatives are really concerned about victims, they need to join with progressives and attempt to dramatically reduce our very high recidivism rates.

    Posted by Metteyya at 03/15/2008 @ 5:15pm

22. Posted by CPT 03/15/2008 @ 4:58pm

    Posted by MALCONTENT 03/15/2008 @ 3:23pm

    You are twisting the meanings of the words you use. What you appear to be trying to say, is pot is the "gateway" to learning sources of black-market commodities.

    Of course, this works against your argument, because if pot were legal, one could try it w/o becoming familiar with other illegal drugs. Ditto for those who actually care how hard it is for minors to get drugs.

    It also points up the ridiculous cultural vocabulary we have, wherein pot is a "drug", but caffeine, nicotine and alcohol, are not.

    Posted by Malcontent at 03/15/2008 @ 5:52pm

23. i would think that most drug experts are torn on the issue

    Posted by CPT 03/15/2008 @ 4:58pm

    By drug experts, do you mean doctors of science? Or political, propaganda hacks and bullshitting culture warriors?

    Posted by Malcontent at 03/15/2008 @ 5:54pm

24. Posted by METTEYYA 03/15/2008 @ 5:15pm | ignore this person

    The underlying cause of crime is people breaking the law....choosing the easy way instead of the hard road of actually working for what you have rather than trying ot victimize another person for some material gain

    Posted by CPT at 03/15/2008 @ 5:55pm

25. Posted by MALCONTENT 03/15/2008 @ 5:52pm | ignore this person

    POT will never be legalized, no matter how much you scream over it.....pot is simply not an acceptable drug to take in this country.

    It is the first drug used by many addicts, that is simply the truth, it is their introduction into the world of harder drugs.

    Posted by CPT at 03/15/2008 @ 6:00pm

26. Dear "Metteyya,"

    I certainly hope that you are right and that "Mask" is wrong. The challenge will be to change the present situation, in which DUMB policies are deceptively sold to the public as "tough," into an improved situation, in which SMART policies will be sold to the public as "tough" -- somewhat less deceptively, since these policies will work better (as the pioneering example of New York state proves).

    I'm afraid that the rhetoric of "toughness" is too firmly lodged in the typical US-American mind (which presently seems to have little room for anything else) to allow us to get "beyond" it, and in this respect "Mask" may have a point.

    Posted by JakobFabian at 03/15/2008 @ 6:03pm

27. Dear CPT,

    No, you're wrong. Pot is not the "gateway drug." MILK is the real gateway drug.

    How do we know? Because, in your own words, "It is the first drug used by many addicts, that is simply the truth, it is their introduction into the world of harder drugs."

    Or can you show me a drug addict who NEVER drank milk? No, you can't. So there's your proof, right?

    Here's a suggestion: Google the term "Post hoc ergo propter hoc" and see what you come up with.

    Posted by JakobFabian at 03/15/2008 @ 6:07pm

28. Posted by JAKOBFABIAN 03/15/2008 @ 6:07pm | ignore this person

    Milk????? Good Lord do you even know what we are talking about here....Listen we are talking about ILLEGAL drugs....as it is understood in the connotation of the term today.

    You see you need to google 21 century language and understand what illegal drugs refer to.....you see most people dont care about milk

    Posted by CPT at 03/15/2008 @ 6:19pm

29. I agreee with you Ms. Mukhopadhyay about the need to reform the system. Some suggestions: 1) Crime against property is over punished here. The influence of capital on this is a scandal. How many times I have heard that for stealing say $20 in merchandise someone gets 20 years, all because government wants to give investors a 'secure environment', i.e. for hundreds that may do petty theft one person pays, and pays big. That is no justice, and needs to be addressed. How about paying a fine 50 times the value of stolen property? If the person does not have the money, pay the equivalent in community service.

    2) Petty drug consumption or petty dealing - especially if it is marijuana over other hard drugs - is another example of how ridiculous can be the system. People don't need to do more than 1 or 2 years when very "light" drug cases are punished.

    3) Vice. As we have seen lately with the ex-N.Y. Governor, this country just prosecutes in excess over prostitution. For adult females that are not forced into it (Not being eslavened), I don't think we need to punish this but with community service.

    I don't know the statistics for sure but I dare to guess that only by addressing these 3 areas (none of which serious criminals are involved into) we could basically reduce the prison population at least by a third.

    Also contributing to the problem is the absence ( if not absence poor showing) of government (federal, state or municipal) and religious involvement in the poor and marginalized areas. That includes real help for single parents (especially moms) struggling to make a living - most of it is always denied by Reps. Positive environments in these areas mean they should have 3 or 4 times more parks and athletic institutions, not for profit health institutions, free technical training programs and lots of transportation. That can do a lot into a person's mind to turn into positive thinking and I bet that all these investments would still be less than what society pays for the prisons.

    Posted by Frank42 at 03/15/2008 @ 6:49pm

30. 1) Crime against property is over punished here....

    Gee, I didn't know arson, breaking and entering and robbery were over punished in your city. (All of which are crimes against property with the last being against people and property)

    2) Petty drug consumption or petty dealing

    So, you're OK with petty dealers dealing to school-aged children, huh?

    3) Vice.

    Wow, this is a tough one. Why do men feel the need to pay for sex? The wife or girlfriend has the same design as the hooker...oh well, the only thing that comes to mind is a saying from the book of Proverbs.. "He who is born a fool is never cured".

    Posted by FRANK42 03/15/2008 @ 6:49pm

    Posted by ACook at 03/15/2008 @ 7:26pm

31. CPT - Just to help you out: "Post hoc ergo propter hoc" means "After it, therefore because of it" - and the reason it's Latin is that even over 2,000 years ago, people knew that this is a logical fallacy.

    I'm not saying that pot is completely harmless - it isn't. But neither is alcohol. And personally, I'd take any stoner munching their way through my fridge over a person who's drunk out of their mind.

    Posted by Deadra at 03/15/2008 @ 8:05pm

32. JACOBFABIAN -

    Technically, sugar is the first substance most of us get (and remain) addicted to. So when I add my favorite nerve poison, caffeine, to the mix in a caramel latte, I'm actually consuming a dangerous cocktail. That explains a lot of things.

    Posted by Deadra at 03/15/2008 @ 8:14pm

33. A Cook,

    Hello,

    1)My point is that property is a far lesser value than life. Here it seems to be almost in comparison.

    1)So you justify these kind of punishment for people that have been caught in the stores with a jacket and sentenced to 10 or 20 years? What kind of Christian are you? About arson, it is very rare I believe and mostly it is done by savage environmentalists or people that want to cash on insurance. Finally, breaking into a home (specially when people are there) is a direct menace to the homeowner and is another type of crime. The bottom line is crime against property in general and when life is not in jeopardy is about cold cash, and Christians should know better than that. In fact, I am Catholic and know that petty theft is for some people even a compulsive issue that must be treated and not penalized with years of prison.

    2) I am not defending drug users/dealers- not for all any of the crimes cited here. People that have to be in prison are really the dangerous people, Some people that have messed - been found with little quantities pot or gave it to friends around have also been sentenced to long time. Giving it to children of course is completely another story because that goes in detriment of the health and well-being of them. Yeah, it goes against health of everyone sure, as tobacco and alcohol and pain pills, you name it. Do not please twist and spin around what I say.

    3) Finally vice. The book of Proverbs might say what you indicated, but Christ said to the people condemning the prostitute: "He who is free of sin, throw the first stone", and then to her: "I don't condemn you either, go and do not sin again". Again, where is your compassion? Is it only Bush like? I don't justify them but people that go there is for many reasons the most common is to take some kind of mysterious or do-whatever-you wish experience. Anyway, that is barely a crime and in some countries is even legal.

    My point in all of these is: prisons are overcrowded because a sizable fraction of people there are overly punished, and mostly minorities. (F.ex. so many African-Americans doing 15 years for having some crack while the corporate cocaine consumers have not touched prisons). These people, are not really big criminals at all, they have committed some errors but are fully recoverable for society as opposed to sex offenders, gun maniacs, or assassins. We to have to ask ourselves why is it that prisons here are much more crowded than in the rest of the West nations?

    Answer is two: 1)here there is much more crime because of social conditions of the poor people 2)Punishments here are much heavier than for ex. in Europe where there is almost no capital punishment and any deed is sentenced with much lesser time.

    Posted by Frank42 at 03/15/2008 @ 9:07pm

34. "1)So you justify these kind of punishment for people that have been caught in the stores with a jacket and sentenced to 10 or 20 years?

    I can't justify anything because your descriptive is vague and you don't mention if the thief has a record or is a first time offender.

    What kind of Christian are you?

    A free thinking one.

    "Finally, breaking into a home (specially when people are there) is a direct menace to the homeowner and is another type of crime. The bottom line is crime against property in general and when life is not in jeopardy is about cold cash, and Christians should know better than that. In fact, I am Catholic and know that petty theft is for some people even a compulsive issue that must be treated and not penalized with years of prison.

    OK, B&E is also called criminal tresspass and it's still a crime against property. When a criminal breaks into your home, not only do they steal your property, but they've also stolen your sense of security. And if you've ever been broken into while you where home, it's not a good feeling.

    2) I am not defending drug users/dealers- not for all any of the crimes cited here. People that have to be in prison are really the dangerous people, Some people that have messed - been found with little quantities pot or gave it to friends around have also been sentenced to long time. Giving it to children of course is completely another story because that goes in detriment of the health and well-being of them. Yeah, it goes against health of everyone sure, as tobacco and alcohol and pain pills, you name it. Do not please twist and spin around what I say.

    I didn't spin your words. You left your statement open to interpretation.

    3) Finally vice. The book of Proverbs might say what you indicated, but Christ said to the people condemning the prostitute: "He who is free of sin, throw the first stone", and then to her: "I don't condemn you either, go and do not sin again". Again, where is your compassion? Is it only Bush like? I don't justify them but people that go there is for many reasons the most common is to take some kind of mysterious or do-whatever-you wish experience. Anyway, that is barely a crime and in some countries is even legal.

    First off, the woman wasn't a prostitute, she was accused of adultery. Read the Gospel of John in chapter 8. I have compassion, but I'm not going to excuse away bad behavior. I don't care if prostitution is legal in some countries, the very idea that a man would pay for sex is absolutely repugnant and very repulsive.

    My point in all of these is: prisons are overcrowded because a sizable fraction of people there are overly punished, and mostly minorities. (F.ex. so many African-Americans doing 15 years for having some crack while the corporate cocaine consumers have not touched prisons).

    I can see why. Crack cocaine has destroyed so many individuals and their families.

    These people, are not really big criminals at all, they have committed some errors but are fully recoverable for society as opposed to sex offenders, gun maniacs, or assassins. We to have to ask ourselves why is it that prisons here are much more crowded than in the rest of the West nations?

    We're more crowded because we're not a homogenous nation.

    Answer is two: 1)here there is much more crime because of social conditions of the poor people

    What?!?!? As a woman of color, I grew up poor. And being poor and black is not an indicator that my people would automatically go out and commit crimes. That's a total myth that you liberals like to believe. People commit crimes because they want to and they use their lack of social standing as an excuse.

    2)Punishments here are much heavier than for ex. in Europe where there is almost no capital punishment and any deed is sentenced with much lesser time.

    You haven't been reading any European newspapers lately, have you? While it may be true that those countries abolished the death penalty, many will give you life in prison.

    Posted by FRANK42 03/15/2008 @ 9:07pm

    Posted by ACook at 03/15/2008 @ 11:14pm

35. Posted by DEADRA 03/15/2008 @ 8:05pm

    Physically, your body needs glucose. Without those necessary sugars, your brain and your body won't function.

    Posted by ACook at 03/15/2008 @ 11:17pm

36. ACOOK -

    Sucrose =/= glucose...Actually, nevermind. Don't take me too seriously. I sure don't.

    Posted by Deadra at 03/16/2008 @ 11:16am

37. A number of anti-prison resources are listed here [bopsecrets.org], including Clarence Darrow's superlative "Address to the Prisoners in the Chicago Jail" [bopsecrets.org]

    Posted by Ken Knabb at 03/16/2008 @ 3:25pm

38. Posted by KEN KNABB 03/16/2008 @ 3:25pm

    You've gotta be kidding!! You read some really weird stuff.

    Posted by ACook at 03/16/2008 @ 6:53pm

39. ......the charter schools will always be knee capped by the teachers unions and their armed wing..the Dem Party...

    Posted by JOMAMMA 03/16/2008 @ 1:58pm

    I really don't know exactly how the very first charter school starts in any community. Like most interested folks, we all know, or have read, that to get any started is always a huge, long battle. The EIC fights tooth and nail and has to be doing really piss poor (failing badly that is) before parental and activist pressure are able to prevail.

    Once a good charter org. gets started--btw, not all of them are solid enough to last--the only constraints are donation levels and physical facilities.

    On your "knee capped" comment, I don't think that is the case where my org. is concerned. We are very sensitive to the school districts where we have campuses and take a very low profile.....we don't broadcast how well our students do or when the next new campus will open....They are bad enough that we don't need to "knee cap" them by promoting ourselves. All very low key and word-of-mouth.

    As I mentioned before, there is actually financial benefits to the school district to hand over some of their students to us and there is a necessary balance....the truth is we can't help everybody....only motivated and caring parents will seek us out....and we have waiting lists!

    Posted by Happy at 03/16/2008 @ 8:55pm

40. ....and we have waiting lists!

    Posted by HAPPY 03/16/2008 @ 8:55pm

    My "waiting list" comment reminded me of my first campus visit last November where I saw a kid in some kinda trouble sitting alone in the office area but still mouthing off to no one in particular....

    Later I asked about him. He is 13 and his most serious infraction, not on the day I saw him, had been trying to recruit an 11-yr old boy into his gang!!! His own absentee father was/is in a gang as well. The staff felt that he may have to go....too bad of an influence on the others. Like I said earlier, can't help every kid.....the parents, be it one or both, have to be involved and buy into the `mission' for the duration....the temptations in these neighborhoods are hellish!

    Posted by Happy at 03/16/2008 @ 9:34pm

41. Posted by METTEYYA 03/15/2008 @ 5:15pm

    Gee, METTE, and what messiah as President could bring Repubs and Dems together in unity and without political backlash from the public for such a "Smart on Crime" agenda?....hmmmm??????

    Posted by Mask at 03/17/2008 @ 09:18am

42. BTW, this was where CPT got his 'education on drug abuse' [youtube.com]!

    Posted by Mask at 03/17/2008 @ 09:21am

43. Posted by MASK 03/17/2008 @ 09:21am

    Yep. The good old days. Further proof the dogdamned liberal media was influencing television, even back then.

    Posted by Malcontent at 03/17/2008 @ 10:58am

44. Posted by MALCONTENT 03/17/2008 @ 10:58am

    Still trying to find the one where Friday and Gannon find the couple stoned on pot, who let their toddler drown in the bathtub!

    "See, kids. Smoke pot and you'll kill your baby!" Dum-da-dum-dum. Dum-da-dum-dum-dummmmm! The story you have seen isn't true...but it sounded true to middle aged World War-II Generationers back in the late 60s!

    Posted by Mask at 03/17/2008 @ 3:19pm

45. It is the first drug used by many addicts, that is simply the truth, it is their introduction into the world of harder drugs.

    Posted by CPT 03/15/2008 @ 6:00pm

    I bet most tried booze first.

    Posted by Hman23 at 03/17/2008 @ 6:28pm

46. Due to an expierence with a personal friend, I suggest a new alternative to capital punishment which I call:

    GREGG'S SOLUTION A New Idea About Capital Punishment

    Capital punishment kills more than the offenders. A countless number of innocent people die as a direct result of every execution. If you doubt that, read on.

    January 1, 2000, was the first day of Christendom's Third Millennium. But it was the first day of just another busy year for the Oklahoma executioner. In the first 100 days, he killed 9 men. He took a breather and on July 10th, he killed Gregg. As usual you and I were there to squeeze the needle as executioners by democratic default. And we paid millions for his services. Nothing new about that.

    But something unusual DID happen that day. Gregg was white, from Western Kansas, with a BA in criminal justice. His father was a distinguished lawyer, his brother a county prosecutor and the family was upper middle class.

    So what happened? How was Gregg like and unlike other capital offenders? We don't really know. Our self-imposed ignorance is a tragic crime against humanity. But it's not to late.

    Gregg's case demanded my attention for personal reasons. After asking the hard questions, my startling conclusion was: when we kill capital offenders, we sentence thousands of innocent people to die! Here's why.

    DARROW'S LAMENT-- For context, consider history. Eighty years ago, Chicago police charged two college students from well-to-do families, with capital murder. Like Gregg, they were very unlikely capital offenders. Young Leopold and Loeb murdered little Bobby Franks for a thrill. They pled guilty and legendary lawyer Clarence Darrow pled for their lives in one of history's most articulate arguments against capital punishment. Darrow said: "If to hang these two boys would bring him back to life, I would say let them hang, and I believe their parents would say so too (but) Bobby Franks is dead, and we cannot call him back to life." With his only option the impossible task of altering yesterday's events, of course Darrow was right. However, eighty years has provided more options.

    Gregg's case presents us with a solution: an alternative to capital punishment that will save many innocent lives if we SPARE ALL capital offenders and forgo the spirit of hate and revenge that comes to us from the same dark place that that motivated their awful crimes.

    "GREGG FELL OFF THE EDGE OF THE EARTH" -- Gregg had no history of violent behavior whatsoever. His parents say, "In 1989, Gregg fell off the edge of the Earth." No one has offered a better explanation.

    Gregg's father Lelyn has been my dear friend for many years. He was one of western Kansas' most successful trial lawyers. He once held the record for the state's largest jury verdict. Gregg's mother Gladys owned and operated a busy greeting card shop on Main Street.

    Their oldest son is a lawyer and was elected several terms to be the county prosecutor. He will undoubtedly finish his distinguished legal career on the bench. Their second son is a successful Denver restaurateur.

    At age 28, their third son Gregg, received his BA in criminal justice at Wichita State University in 1989. Gregg had some trouble with drugs and alcohol at the university but a drunk-driving conviction was his only criminal record. That summer he lived temporarily in his parents' basement while job-hunting.

    Then one night that summer, Gregg silently left his bed, robbed two local shops, executed each clerk with a bullet to the head and returned unnoticed to his bed. That morning he drove to Texas, robbed and executed a photo shop clerk. The next day he entered a flower shop in Oklahoma, told the owner, a clerk and a customer to lay face down on the floor, and shot them in the head. The owner died. The other two lived to testify. Two days later, he shot and killed a convenience store clerk in New Mexico.

    The four-day body count was five dead and two critically wounded in four states. All were strangers. The money was for cocaine. Authorities quickly arrested Gregg and charged him with capital murder in every state except Kansas that had no capital punishment law. Gregg pled "no contest" to all the charges and contested only the penalties. Kansas sentenced him to four consecutive life terms. Gregg's plea in Texas avoided death. A hung sentencing jury in New Mexico automatically mandated a life sentence.

    That left Oklahoma. The flower shop was in the county seat near the courthouse. The dead owner was the trial judge's friend. He ruled that Gregg's court-appointed attorney bungled the motion to move the case to another town, denied it and guaranteed a sentencing jury made up of the victim's friends and acquaintances.

    In Chicago, Darrow waived a jury for that reason and left the penalty solely in the judge's hands, gambling that the judge would not execute the boys without a jury's instructions to do so. It worked and the boys lived.

    In Oklahoma, Gregg waived a jury for the same reason and lost Darrow's gamble. In August of 1993--four years after the crimes and seven years before Gregg was to face his executioner--the judge sentenced Gregg to die for murdering his friend, the flower-shop owner.

    After the sentence, Lelyn and Gladys were not comfortable in their hometown. Friends helped them move to Topeka and we found Lelyn work in my state law office. We worked there together every day for nearly seven years--until Gregg's execution.

    Gladys told friends and family that she would not live to see Gregg die. True to her word, several months before the execution, she died in her bed of acute alcohol poisoning. Today, Lelyn's amazing faith is stronger than ever.

    GREGG'S SOLUTION -- Because I was so close to Lelyn for so long and shared a small portion of his great pain, the obvious questions haunted me and finally suggested a solution so powerful that the most ardent proponent of capital punishment cannot brush it aside--we must not kill capital offenders. They are far too valuable alive. By killing them, we doom many innocent people we can save as we have saved millions by curing nature's physical diseases.

    The real answers are before us now, in raw form, when we just look. In Gregg's case, the easy answer, "drugs" is not nearly enough. Scientific evidence and common sense agree that excessive, irrational violence has a pattern that sometimes resembles either a hereditary or a communicable disease--and sometimes it does not. Gregg's case was a mystery.

    Science has cured many contagious infections and fevers that once were mystery diseases until research discovered that insects, animals and air currents carried the invisible germs that killed millions of people. Scientists examined the patients, identified the carriers, isolated the germs and found a cure. What they did not do was rage and kill the carriers before learning their secrets!

    Step One: Accordingly, I urge legislation to create state, and eventually, a national high-security research hospital with one urgent mission--to study all variations and extremes of violent offenders and their behavior, both normal and abnormal, with the goal of proving or disproving all theories of violence as it resembles disease. Whatever the conclusions, the research will point to new solutions or at least to paths of further research until eventually we will uncover symptoms, diagnosis, means of prevention and cure.

    Step Two: Repeal all death sentences and mandate that each offender's conviction for what was a capital crime is changed to a life sentence in the hospital with no possibility of release except for conclusive scientific evidence of mistaken identity, such as DNA evidence. See below.

    Step Three: Change the law. Trade the offender's privacy for his life. Remove the cloak of privilege from each offender's legal, physical, psychiatric, medical, educational and criminal records. Then make the records available to the world's best minds in every related discipline for comparison, side-by-side, with thousands of other capital offenders' records. Incredibly, there has never been such a comparison. The records of extraordinarily vicious offenders, such as Gacy and Dalmer, compared with the records of counter-intuitive offenders like Gregg, would undoubtedly be a revealing first step.

    Step Four: With the above results in hand, researchers could then examine the offenders' minds and bodies at their disposal just down the hall in their cells. Faced with no possibility of execution or parole, most scientists believe most offenders will cooperate with the research to a significant degree [Of course, a full-time, on-site, independent medical team must monitor each research project to insure humane treatment.]

    Step Five: Scientists can then apply the burgeoning physical and psychiatric sciences including genetics, to the above results. They are enthusiastic that this research will yield breakthroughs in understanding deadly violence as a disease, its causes and cures.

    FUNDING -- A death-penalty prosecution and execution squanders twice the taxes needed for a life-sentence incarceration. Gregg's Solution allows the states to keep half that figure as a huge tax savings and still support the life-saving research costs. Add to that sum contributions from foreign and domestic governmental, religious, humanitarian, scientific, medical, charitable, inmate and individual funding sources that now support the anti-capital punishment cause. The result will be adequate funding even before a substantial break-through opens the funding gates.

    MASS CLASS MURDER -- The good news: new DNA science has rescued many innocents from death-row, who are guilty of nothing but poverty in the first degree.

    The bad news: we must face the fact that before DNA, we executed thousands of innocent poor people.

    The worse news: DNA testing can conclusively disprove guilt and rebut false or mistaken testimony in a rape case. But most convictions turn on evidence that science cannot conclusively disprove. False or mistaken evidence can decide any kind of case, so we can be certain that death row continues to house a tragically high number of innocent people. Every day, the American people commit "class mass murder." We knowingly continue to execute a percentage of innocent death-row inmates because we cannot tell which ones are innocent.

    THE ANSWER: From this moment, we must kill no more. Otherwise, we are more guilty than they are!

    PUBLIC 0PINION -- Gregg's Solution will pass into law easier than first impression suggests. Most Americans are more optimistic than cruel and are uneasy with the death penalty. We just want to be safe.The net cost of each execution adds millions to the tax bills of already angry taxpayers. More and more people finally realize that public death is not a logical antidote to private violence. On the contrary. Public violence justifies and exacerbates private violence, especially in the mind of a violence-prone person who has already adopted violence as a solution to large and small, every-day problems.

    Gregg's Solution provides a new, irresistible option to death--the choice between a tortuous death in an expensive medieval torture chamber, and benign experimentation in a far less costly modern laboratory with the bonus that it will save innocent lives and millions in tax dollars.

    THE RESULTS ARE "WIN-WIN" -- Although scientists are confident that research will provide important breakthroughs and reduce our society's high propensity for violence, skeptics still abound. Here are our answers for them:

    At worst: At first, we may gain no obvious, demonstrably useful, concrete results except ground cleared and plowed--valuable basic research. But the cost of even that lesser result will be a net gain because the taxpayer's cost will be half the cost of our present death-machines, reduced further by outside private funding.

    At best: Any day of any week may be the day that Gregg's Solution pays off with a major scientific breakthrough--one that would prevent multitudes of violent deaths. With help from a Bigger Hand, we humans just might accomplish the next-best thing to Darrow's lament--to save and isolate each sick life as precious evidence…to invest…to learn…to treat…to cure…and maybe, just maybe…to harvest a yield of blood not shed, vicious acts prevented, lives not scarred by violence. I ask, with all due respect, what higher task of governance do we have before us? And what do we have to lose?

    THE ULTIMATE QUESTION & ANSWER -- Will enough of us finally say "enough?" Or will we drift off with others to think about the "more important" issues of the day and continue to knowingly kill innocent people as public policy?

    Is it enough to say "I am against the death penalty?" Or does conscience require action?

    My conscience screams that Gregg's execution was another wake-up call from Mother Nature and Father God. They left us a message:

    "Remember "free will?" We invented it. We allow vicious criminals the choice to inflict great pain. Then it is your turn. You may choose to judge and punish them in-kind with great pain--OR---you may choose to forgive them and to learn. Forgiveness returns our balance of love to the world and leaves the judging to us.

    "That is your free-will choice."

    Claude Lee, 5633 SW Hawick Lane, Topeka KS 66614, 785.273.6163 c.f.leee@gmail.com

    Posted by CLAUDELEE at 03/18/2008 @ 01:02am

47. Posted by CLAUDELEE 03/18/2008 @ 01:02am

    First....geez....I thought RESE was bad.

    Second, which of the Presidential candidates is calling for a death penalty moratorium or ban.....any?

    Third, the polling don't favor it either.

    Posted by Mask at 03/18/2008 @ 09:34am

48. Posted by MASK 03/17/2008 @ 09:21am | ignore this person

    My goodness.....i had no idea that i got to you that much....such unusal emotions from such self-avowed libritarian. I find that most satisfying.

    Posted by CPT at 03/19/2008 @ 6:11pm

49. You people make me SICK...!!! You have feelings for these inhumane animals that rape and kill our fellow citizens..? What is wrong with you.? I my opinion, and most of this country, when they are convicted of murder, the case should be sent to the US Supremes for a 24 hr review, and tehn the next morning they are shot at dawn..!!! If there was any justice in this world, the parents and brothers and sisters of the dead would be allowed to pull the trigger.... You might be interested to know that i have told my daughters boy friends that they best be REAL careful iwth my girls, cause if they are responsible for they girls getting killed in an accident, they will not make it alive to TRIAL...

    BIll...

    Posted by tidbit100 at 03/19/2008 @ 8:21pm

50. Posted by CPT 03/19/2008 @ 6:11pm

    Hey, you find it satisfying to worry more about the discomfort of a political Administration....than the health of your fellow soldiers.

    I find THAT quite disgusting...of course, I support the troops!

    Posted by Mask at 03/19/2008 @ 9:49pm