the Sugar Conspiracy 

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Tuesday, August 19, 2003 A social policy of incarceration Black men born in the United States in 2001 will have a one in three chance of going to prison during their lifetime if current trends continue, according to a report by the US justice department. More than 5.6 million Americans are either in prison or have served time there - and that number will continue to rise, the report shows. By the end of 2001 one in every 37 Americans had some experience of prison, compared with one in 53 in 1974. Continuing at that rate, the proportion will increase to one in every 15 of those born in 2001. It seems ridiculous to me that the US Dept. of Justice should release this information and then do nothing at all to help stop this trend. Incarceration will continue to be the only advocated method of crime reduction. The "drug war" will continue to target minority communities. Candidates will still have to be "tough on crime." Yet studies and real-life examples have shown that rehabiliation actually helps reduce crime more than simply locking up criminals. Investment in low-income neighborhoods goes way further towards crime reduction than the threat of jailtime. But that requires a cosmic shift in our thinking of crime and society's response to it. If these numbers are to ever reverse, we need to start thinking about the criminal justice system in a more enlightened manner. posted by chris at 10:54 AM   ------------------

    

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