On Mon, 29 Jan 2001, Ross A. Finlayson wrote:
> Prisons are sad.
I couldn't agree more. They should be a last (or second to last, if
you agree with the death penalty) resort.
> American has the highest rate of imprisonment of any democratic country, which
> is absolutely pathetic. Even ninety-nine percent of extremely violent
> offenders are not violent ninety-nine percent of the time.
Yes, the encarceration rate in the US is a scandel. The vast
majority of the prision population should not be in prison.
> Not having been imprisoned, I wouldn't want to be. Not being a criminal, I
> see less reason to imprison anyone.
Sometimes, the worst have to be quarentined.
> When I was a high school student, the debate topic for the year was prison
> overcrowding, and how to resolve it. Plans included decriminalizing drugs.
> We argued for the complete year the entire issue of prisons. The other annual
> debate topics were space and the elderly.
All consenual "crimes" should be decriminalized.
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