RE: Moscow surplus and seized weapons policy

[Robert Hoffmann <escape@alt-escape.com>]

At 11:05 AM 09/20/1999 -0700, Marc wrote:
>And why is the incarceration rates so high?  It is because of our useless
>"war on drugs".  It is not because they are keeping violent criminals in
>for a longer period of time.  

Actually, I first came across this critique of the U.S. Criminal Justice
System around 1980, long before the War on Drugs and drug hysteria.  And I
believe that the statistics on which the claim was made were decades old:
The U.S. has a very high rate of incarceration, and this obviously does
little to deter crime, as the crime rate continues to be so high.  The same
with recidivism.  Recidivism is high for most crimes, violent and
non-violent, murder being an exception!  Lowest rate of recidivism!
Statistically, the person least likely to commit murder is someone who has
been released from jail after a murder conviction (although repeats still
occur).  You and I are statistically more likely to commit murder.

So while the war on drugs is to blame for our swelling prison population,
it is not the only thing wrong with our criminal justice system.  It does
not deter crime, prevent crime, rehabilitate criminals, and doesn't seem to
do a good job of punishing them.  This is what I mean by "the criminal
justice system cries out for justification."  It doesn't seem to do
anything that we want it to.

Can't say I have an alternative at hand; criticisms are always easier than
solutions.



Bob Hoffmann                         229 East C St., Suite B
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