Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nixpix who wrote (84780)	12/20/2011 3:18:53 AM
From: Hawkmoon	2 Recommendations Respond to of 218137

Our prison population has quadrupled since 1980 due to "war on drugs", violent crime and property crime have declined since the early 1990's. How many people are in prison for grass? I think what we have to do as americans is look at our trend. We are going down hill fast. Y'know.. I've nothing against legalizing Pot (not referring to how China legalized Pol Pot, mind you.. ;0) So far as I'm concerned, alcohol is more personally destructive. But I just can't see legalizing a drug like Meth, Heroin, or the more psychologically/physically destructive drugs.. But the reality is that very few "users" are in prison, unless they've been involved in other crimes.. And those other crimes generally involve obtaining money to buy more drugs because they are severely addicted. The majority of drug related prisoners are dealers and king-pins, most of whom were not only involved in an illegal enterprise, but also evading taxes on their ill-gotten gains. In my neck of the woods, we have a pretty bad Meth problem.. But the local LEAs seem to pay more attention to busting the pot cultivators.. I would like to believe it's because it delivers bigger headlines than just busting another Meth lab. But sometimes I wonder if the local authorities are being paid off to ignore the Meth dealers/cookers.. But look.. they don't really enforce drug laws in Mexico against the Kingpins.. And look what that society has become.. Drugs, in part, as well as the destruction of family oriented values and the crap being spewed at our kids in the media, is more responsible for why we are "going downhill fast", IMO. Hawk

To: Nixpix who wrote (84780)	12/20/2011 9:16:28 AM
From: bart13	Respond to of 218137

... According to the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2010 America’s prison population declined year-on-year for the first time in nearly four decades. ( bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov ) There were 1,605,127 prisoners behind bars in state and federal correction facilities in 2010, 9,228 fewer than in 2009. Although that is less than a percentage point decrease, it is still significant. Half of the states reported decreases in prison populations, with Rhode Island and Georgia (where one in 13 adults is under some form of correctional control, one of the highest proportions in the country) reporting the largest percentage decreases, 8.6% and 7.9% respectively. There were some increases, most notably Illinois, which saw the largest increase in absolute numbers, followed by Texas. But the largest percentage increase in the state prison population was in Iowa, up 7.3%, followed by Illinois, up 7.2%. The imprisonment rate is also down. The rate last year was about one in 201 residents. Since 2007, when it peaked at 506 per 100,000 residents, the imprisonment rate has declined each year. Illinois reported the largest rate increase, while it fell in 33 states. About one-third of admissions result from parole violations. Surveillance has been a key component in correction supervision since the 1980s. Consequently, parole violations caused a seven-fold increase in people returning to prison from 1980 to 2000. In 2009 parole violators accounted for a third of all state prison admissions, but this sort of admission declined last year, thanks in part no doubt because of the efforts made at the state, local and federal level to lower recidivism rates. According to a Pew report, 43% of offenders are returned to state prison within three years of their release. Also encouraging is the news that releases from prison exceeded admissions in 2010 for the first time since 1977. This means that many prisons are not operating at full capacity. Twenty-eight states are operating at or below their highest capacity. Mississippi, for instance, operated at 46% above its top capacity in 2010. The same holds true at federal prisons where are operating at 36% of its highest reported capacity. It is not all good news. Black men still have a horrifically high imprisonment rate—nearly seven times higher than while males. But this is an encouraging first step on a very long march. economist.com