Many states such as California have overcrowded prisons and face budget cuts. The jails are full of desperate, uneducated, mentally unstable, and violent inmates. Three strikes law means we lock them up for life. The appeals process for death row inmates drags on for years, so we have to feed them and provide health care. Inmates have access to an education and we pay for their lawyers. Some get conjugal visits. Repeat offenders means they weren't rehabilitated when we let them out. Many are incarcerated for minor drug possession, basically non-violent crimes. Gang members are allowed to hang out together. Rape happens. Prison unions are powerful (politically), and correctional officers and others in the prison system can earn high salaries (some as high as 700k annually). The question is, how long can this continue? How can we truly reform the prison system?
We lost the war on drugs. We need to stop incarcerating people whose only crime is smoking marijuana. It's too expensive to house and feed these people. There are more pressing matters we could be focusing on such as education and immigration. Did you know that America has less than 5% of the world's population, and yet 23.4% of the world's incarcerated belong to us? That is one in every thirty one adults! We need not just prison reform, but an overall reform of the justice system.
I think removing people who are incarcerated for non-violent drug possession would be a great start. They clog the system and we need space for violent felons.
I agree that it makes no sense to send people to jail for marijuana. The last few presidents have admitted to smoking marijuana in the past, but there are Americans that spend decades in jail for something that really doesn't hurt anyone. There are international repercussions too -- for example, the horrible drug-related violence that is currently going on in Mexico. I also think changing the focus to rehabilitating people rather punishing them would be an important step.
B-Weezy said it. Stop sending people to jail for Marijuana. My view is that legalizing it would clear the prisons, and increase tax revenue to help fund more prisons for the true criminals. Traffic violations and debts? Don't go to prison, perform community service. Help the community rather than leeching off tax dollars. Prison is where violent criminals belong. Keep those non-violent petty criminals out.
