In August 2012 the Obama administration released information
for major changes in the criminal
justice system. The primary focus will be on sentencing for certain drug
related crimes.
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| Prison to Soldier Reform Program |
Attorney General Eric Holder said “Too many Americans go to
too many prisons for far too long, and for no truly good law enforcement reason”. He stop short of saying that too many
minorities go to prison for no truly good reason.
It is a travesty that in these United States, we have more
people in prison than some countries have citizens. We have put too many minorities behind
bar for petty crimes and drug related crimes.
The Regan administration started the “War on Drugs”, hoping
to catch the “big fish” in the drug market, unfortunately all they
caught was little guppies, minority guppies at that!
Now is the time to repeal mandatory sentencing
laws and every prisoner that was sentence under that law should be release but
with stipulations. Because the
government disrupted their lives by sentencing them, these prison have now
become the responsibility of the government. For up to five year the government must make restitution to these former prisoners
by providing a government assisted program for housing and food. These program would still probable be far less expensive then housing them in prison. The government should also provide sponsored training program such as: High School completion
and learning a marketable trade (welder, carpenter, auto repair, cook, truck
driver and more) that can find immediate employment upon completion. An even better option would be give these prison the option of enlisting in the military for 5 years.
Erma your blog was informative. I agree it is a travesty the United States has more people in prison than some countries have citizens. Minorities need to acknowledge and recognize this. A champion without an opponent cannot be recognized as the champion. In other words, we cannot put ourselves in a situation where the war on drugs is tested. (Great Blog) Fred...
ReplyDeleteI found this blog very informative. However, I have to disagree with providing those who were convicted with restitution. I believe that by doing this it would be setting a precedent. It is one thing to give restitution to a person who was wrongfully convicted, and another to give it to someone who was not. I do agree that those who have been convicted do need to have sponsored training programs so that they will be employable upon exiting incarceration. However, with that being said there needs to be more second chance employers. I say this, because upon exiting jail/prison it is very hard to find a job once an application is filled out and the "convicted of a crime" box is checked.
ReplyDeleteErma: You have written a thought-provoking blog with an interesting solution to the overpopulated prison issue. Professor Taylor
ReplyDeleteWell I must say that some cases reserves restitution and another does not. I think someone that commits a minor crime should not be in the same place that someone that commits a major crime. I think universally speaking each country still has to much to improve in order to find a real system that works.
ReplyDeletethanks