Is mass incarceration the new caste system? (Yes, they mean just what you think they do)

To: 2ndDivisionVet

>>>Thanks largely to the war on drugs and the get-tough movement, millions of people — overwhelmingly poor people of color — have been swept into our criminal justice system mainly for nonviolent and drug offenses, branded criminals and felons.<<<

This is an outright lie.

In 2009, the most recent data available, 53% of state
prison inmates were serving time for violent offenses,
19% for property, 18% for drug, and 9% for public order
offenses.

http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/p10.pdf

Only 18% of State inmates are in for drugs. 72% are in for either violent or property crimes.

The writer’s conflating of “drug and non-violent crimes” is also very deceptive. If I break into your house, ransack the place and steal all of your valuables that is a “non-violent crime”. If I steal 12 cars and sell them to chop shops, those are all “non-violent crimes” as well.

Besides that, I’d be willing to be that a good percentage of inmates, in for drugs, have also committed violent or proprety crimes, but were only caught and convicted on the drug crimes. It is a lot easier to catch a guy who makes his living as an armed robber or burgular, with a bag of illegal drugs in his car, than it is to connect him to his violent and property crimes and prove in court that he committed them.

With the exception of a few politically incorrect “crimes” our nation tries WAY too hard to keep people OUT of jail. Most inmates who are in for all but the most serious crimes, have been given multiple chances with probation or various programs before finally being sent to prison. There are FAR more people walkng the streets, who deserve to be in prison than vice versa.

I’d love to see some of these racist, Liberal whackos go live in a prison for a year with these “victims” of our criminal justice system and THEN tell us which ones they think shouldn’t be there.

21 posted on 04/19/2012 12:41:38 PM PDT by Above My Pay Grade (The candidate I vote for will NOT have a CARE after his name.)

To: 2ndDivisionVet

....people of color have been arrested and incarcerated at grossly disproportionate rates.

Seen "The Sunset Limited"?

Samuel Jacksons character....."...I didn't see no African Americans or People of Color in there, just a bunch of *******"

Seems to fit this narrative.

22 posted on 04/19/2012 12:42:47 PM PDT by Envisioning (Call me a racist........, one more time..........)

To: 2ndDivisionVet

>>>Today, crime rates are at historic lows, but incarceration rates, especially black incarceration rates, have consistently soared. <<<

So when more criminals are incarcerated, crime rates decrease? Who would’ve thunk it?!

The idea that black Americans should have a chance to live in safe neighborhoods, with the thugs removed and other potential thugs deterred by the threat of prison, is abhorrent to these racist, Liberals.

Whether they realize it or not, nobody hates black people more (regardless or their skin color) than the individual who wants law-abiding black people surrounded, terrorized and victimized by more criminals, rather than incarcerating those criminals.

23 posted on 04/19/2012 12:49:55 PM PDT by Above My Pay Grade (The candidate I vote for will NOT have a CARE after his name.)

To: PapaBear3625

“If all sorts of drugs were available in the local liquor store under the same conditions as buying alcohol,” there would be more armed robberies of liquor stores.

Maybe they could just quit committing felonies? Nah, too simplistic.

24 posted on 04/19/2012 12:53:35 PM PDT by Silentgypsy

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Oh boy, here we go.....

What is known and scientifically established is the drop in the crime rate associated with the increased incarceration rate.

25 posted on 04/19/2012 12:57:22 PM PDT by Hostage (Be Breitbart!)

To: Larry Lucido

>> Prison should be solely for those who commit violent crimes or victimize others through theft, force or fraud.

...whereas mere *poverty* should be for those who smoke themselves stupid.

“Mom! I’m out of underwear again, can ya bring some down to my room?”

Works for me! But don’t expect me to pay for their food stamps when they get the munchies.

:-)

26 posted on 04/19/2012 12:57:58 PM PDT by Nervous Tick (Trust in God, but row away from the rocks!)

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Thanks to liberal, Democrat welfare policies that destroyed the black family.

27 posted on 04/19/2012 1:12:26 PM PDT by WestwardHo

Maybe, if African-Americans stopped breaking the law, there wouldn’t be so many of them in prison.

Just a thought.

28 posted on 04/19/2012 1:19:51 PM PDT by USS Alaska (Nuke the terrorists savages.)

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Mr. Obama could pardon every black incarcerated in the United States as one of his last acts in office. I could see him doing it, too.

No he couldn't. The vast majority of prisoners in the United States, regardless of race, are people convicted of state crimes. The President cannot issue pardons for state crimes, only Federal.

29 posted on 04/19/2012 1:23:00 PM PDT by Conscience of a Conservative

To: 2ndDivisionVet

30 posted on 04/19/2012 1:23:07 PM PDT by Dogbert41 ("...or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. " -Jesus)

To: JerseyanExile

Great Point! I will tentavively say that you are correct and that a study will find that 1st generation black immigrants are not incarcerated at the same level.

This means that the powers that be will never let a study like this happen.

31 posted on 04/19/2012 11:30:54 AM PDT by Sergio (An object at rest cannot be stopped! - The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight)

To: 2ndDivisionVet; Chances Are

In just 30 years, between 1980 and 2000,

I stopped reading right there.

32 posted on 04/19/2012 4:23:14 PM PDT by ShorelineMike (Constituo, ergo sum.)

the massive number of drug users in the American population....doesn’t measure up percentage-wise with what you have in France, Japan or Denmark.

That certainly must bear some relationship with the fact that France, Denmark, and Japan don't have young people. The elderly are less likely to use recreational drugs; and countries with column-shaped demographic pyramids surely must have less drug users as a result - along with for that matter having fewer violent criminals, using similar arguments.

33 posted on 04/19/2012 9:37:27 PM PDT by eclecticEel (Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: 7/4/1776 - 3/21/2010)

To: 2ndDivisionVet

SDWW (Self Defense While White) The new hate crime.

34 posted on 04/21/2012 1:46:59 PM PDT by Eagles6

To: 2ndDivisionVet

The Bay State Banner is an unapologetic Maoist rag.

35 posted on 04/28/2012 6:02:29 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Unlike Mrs Obama,I've Been Proud Of This Country My *Entire* Life!)

To: Above My Pay Grade

36 posted on 05/13/2012 5:37:22 AM PDT by Eagles6 (S)

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794