“‘There are only two possibilities here,’ Mr. Webb said in introducing his bill, noting that America imprisons so many more people than other countries. ‘Either we have the most evil people on earth living in the United States, or we are doing something dramatically wrong in terms of how we approach the issue of criminal justice.‘”
In his latest column, the NYT’s Nicholas Kristof makes the case anew for comprehensive criminal justice reform. “[O]ver all, in a time of limited resources, we’re overinvesting in prisons and underinvesting in schools. Indeed, education spending may reduce the need for incarceration…Above all, it’s time for a rethink of our drug policy.” (Via Sententiae.)
On the list of things that don’t make sense and are an absolute disaster socially, morally, and fiscally, the drug law/prison system structure is at the top, right up there with our utter lack of responsible gun laws. If you you study the issue at all, there’s no debate that what we’re doing is wrong. It’s just a whole truckload of stupid to assert otherwise.
Either we have the most evil people on earth living in the United States
We do! They’re the ones who designed our drug laws and criminal justice system.