Destination, Dignity: Focus on a Broken Criminal Justice System - Mad In America
It never ceases to amaze that America has 5% of the world’s population, but 25% of its criminals. When reading the news I’m shocked by hearing that people selling a small amount of cocaine or heroine are going to prison for 20+ years…. or that someone committing a violent but non-lethal crime (e. g. armed robbery) is going to prison for 25 to life… or that a 15 year old murderer is going to adult prison for life without parole… or that someone committing 3 nonviolent felonies is... It’s truly incredible how draconian, harsh, yet ineffective America’s criminal justice policy is. Most of these scenarios I described above would involve sentences half as long or less in European countries, where crime is not significantly higher... It bears reposting the US debt clock below so people can be reminded how greatly in debt our country is, as of today about 18. 37 trillion dollars, and that having to pay for keeping a quarter of the whole world’s prison population is putting us... Let’s stop pretending there’s a difference between prisoners in jails and prisoners of psychiatry. No one should be abused in prison, period. one should not need a psych label or a “normal” label to qualify for human dignity. Source: www.madinamerica.com
