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Obama needs to reform the prison system
Date published: 12/21/2008
PASADENA, Calif. --As president, Barack Obama should not neglect the invisible young men and women who are in our prisons.He campaigned on a pledge of change. And one profound change he could help bring about is reforming our criminal-justice system. Today, we are warehousing 2.1 million people in jail or prison, more than any other country in the world. Many of these people are in prison because of the so-called "war on drugs," which has been a huge failure and is bankrupting state budgets. "Drug offenders in prison and jails have increased 1,100 percent since 1980," according to the Sentencing Project, a nonprofit prison- Our criminal-justice system is discriminatory. According to the Sentencing Project, "African-Americans comprise 14 percent of regular drug users, but are 37 percent of those arrested for drug offenses and 56 percent of persons in state prison for drug offenses. "More than 60 percent of the people in prison are now racial and ethnic minorities," the group notes. "For black males in their 20s, one in every eight is in prison or jail on any given day." Many of these young men were not given the proper opportunities to obtain a quality education, and many come from abusive households. The great majority of these youths live in poverty, where violence and incarceration are common. Don't get me wrong. I am not defending or justifying criminal acts. Individuals who commit them need to be held responsible. But we, as a society, need to get to the root of this violence, as well as balance the scales of our justice system. President-elect Obama should prioritize gang prevention and intervention programs that include youth-education and job-creation elements. Such programs can counteract the hopelessness that afflicts so many of our young people of color. We must change the defeatist mentality that says, Obama ran a campaign of change, and he ran on hope. He has an opportunity to continue inspiring and motivating our youth, whether they live in the urban ghettos or suburbs. To do so effectively, he needs to root out the bias in our criminal-justice system and support effective gang- and violence-prevention programs. A generation depends Randy Jurado Ertll is a writer
Date published: 12/21/2008
Pot should be treated the same as booze.
(posted by
Mandrake
, Dec. 21, 2008 2:48 pm)
Race and ethnic representation in prisons is dependent on
who gets caught and gets convicted. The social issues
mentioned are very important and need to be addressed
started with the beginning. The beginning is bearing
children when you you cannot properly raise the child to
become an honest, well educated and well adjusted
person.
If, as a percentage of the total blacks and martians are the
highest represented in the prison population then the
basics need to be addressed.
Tell me this...
(posted by
Revolution76
, Dec. 21, 2008 12:08 pm)
What incentive does this "Sentencing Project" have to come up with magical numbers? Everyone has an agenda. Commit the crime, do the time.
Agreed
(posted by
Talisman
, Dec. 21, 2008 8:44 am)
This country needs to re-evaluate this money losing war on drugs. Marijuana is far less harmful than alcohol yet it is illegal. This makes no sense. We sentence non violent offenders such as people stealing mixers or smoking pot to stiffer sentences than we do killers, rapists and child molesters. The entire sentencing guidelines need to be re-evaluated so the sentence fits the crime and the criminal does the CORRECT time.
BULL
(posted by
jameyboat
, Dec. 21, 2008 8:06 am)
Everyone has the right and responsibility to make choices. Do not blame society for the wrong choice some make. Do the crime, do the time. If any change is needed it should be to make sure criminals get the punishment they deserve. Prison is not a hotel, or country club, where the residents make demands.
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