War On Crime...our policies have led to misuse of prison. [part 2 of a 4 part series]

Currently the U.S. leads the world in having the highest prison population per ca pita. As of 2010 the total population in the U.S. is 308.4 million. Our total prison population equals just over 7.3 million ( not including Juveniles). That total is the highest in the world!Roughly 1 in every 37 adults in America is incarcerated.At this time the U.S. prison population is higher than China and the Soviet Union during their communist regime. Not something to be all that proud of;especially when just over a third of that number are first time non violent offenders, many who fall into what is called consensual crime, meaning there was no victim involved, i.e. recreational use of drugs, gambling, prostitution, pornography, drunk driving (without injury or property damage).

So what does this say about our country??? Are Americans really that bad??? Almost 3%of our population are doing time for behaviours we as a society have created laws against and deemed to be offensive and unacceptable. Don't get me wrong...I myself agree that murder, rape, burglarizing, aggravated assault, are behaviours that have violated another persons well being and their rights, and should have a harsh, YET REASONABLE punishment, to go along with being convicted of them, however, recreational use of drugs, prostitution, gambling...so forth and so on, should not constitute anything more than a fine...EVER. Even tax evasion isn't - in my opinion -that serious of a crime...Especially when the government flagrantly spends those tax dollars. When it comes to our Government there is a whole list of people that should be behind bars...but I digress...that is for another discussion.

The United States of America is 234 years into Government...Our prison system, how we know it (roughly), is 218 years into practice. When our prison system was put into effect it was meant as a place of penance for those who proved themselves a danger to society by committing heinous crimes. Very rarely did a person go to prison for something petty; those types of crimes were handled within the community and not necessarily by the state. Now in no way am I meaning to imply that "thems times was better"! More so I am pointing out that somewhere, somehow, along the way we turned our prisons into a house for every person we conveniently deem a misfit; stemming from a lack of understanding and an inept ability to quill our fears resulting in draconian laws,and punishment...Inevitably a false sense of security. At this rate our children will be doing time for their own innocents...Actually in some states there are children as young as 10 years of age on the sex offender registration...because they "played doctor" with another child. Is it right for kids to behave in this matter? Is it really a question of right or wrong, or is it "normal", and deserves being addressed by a parent or guardian...Maybe a precursor to the birds and the bees talk. And this is how most issues - those that are not plotted,and do not threaten or violate another's well being - should be handled; a community mediation between all parties, one that instills accountability on the offender while maintaining the concern of the community and restores peace.

There is no doubt that the last 30 years has come to be known as the information age, however at the same time the information age belies itself. More often we allow the information we gain to drive us into fear; causing us to react impulsively rather than rationally. And when we do finally start to come to our senses so much damage has been done that it is very hard for us to admit we were wrong...at least enough to change. As a courtesy to our egos we'd rather rest on our laurels of when we've been right than face the challenge of admitting when we were wrong and own up. Now I am not saying that we need to do away with laws, and punishment, on the contrary I am saying that we need to see that our laws have had, and do have, there place, but we must come to grips with reality and stop overreacting to the few heinous cases - and they are few - that have driven us to lose the capacity of having faith in man, knowing the difference between a person who makes a mistake and is capable of restoring peace to that of a sociopath, someone who has no respect for the well being of another person, the community, and/or themselves.

Prison needs to get back to being a place for only those that have proven themselves a serious danger to society.It should not be used as a place to send those we don't get along with or that walk to the beat of their own drum without harming others. There are people in this world that are very sick and have committed some wicked crimes, i.e. Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, Jeffery Dahmer, completely defiling an others rights and welbeing. It is of no interest to society, or the state,to send a person who has merely gotten gotten high, or who has a serious chemical dependency and has broken the law in order to feed his addiction, to a place in which the environment is severely negative and dehumanizing. Shy of murder, rape, or kidnapping, no one should be hauled off to prison. If in fact we really are a sophisticated society, with the will and capacity to make anything happen...than we certainly ought to be able to find more rational reasonable and healthy effective ways of dealing with and resolving our social issues without locking everyone up and throwing away the key.

One thing is for sure, currently the annual cost for those 7.3 million inmates in the U.S. is $68 billion.On average the annual cost per inmate is $40,000. Not to leave out the additional economic impact the families of the incarcerated and their communities suffer.