Lexington: "A Nation of Jailbirds"

[Neil]

The rate may be unprecedented for a country where the rule of law obtains. Clearly the Nazi and Stalinist despotisms (to mention a couple) will have exceeded that rate.

Perhaps, but only because the use of the death penalty has disappeared for most crimes.  If we start hanging thieves again, things will right themselves.

[Jos Theelen]

I read this article and others in the Economist last month.  It was good.  We should decriminalize possession and institute the death penalty for dealers.

We should decriminalize possession and tax the dealers.

[Martinus]

My take on what would be the main causes of the differences between the US on one hand and Europe and Canada on the other would be as follows (in the order of influence):

1. War on Terror
2. Longer sentences
3. Possibly (?) access to firearms and greater social/financial equalities in the populace.

[Strix]

A sixth of prisoners suffer from mental illness of one sort or another. There are four times as many mentally ill people in prison as in mental hospitals.

Shocker! Especially considering the great efforts that politicians have made in this country to close mental hospitals to save money and reduce budget spending. I figured the number would be much higher. 

[Malthus]

I suspect this explains some of the difference compared to other Western democracies (but not all of it), however have the US courts really become more harsh in the recent years? Could any of the US lawyers cabal weigh in on that?

I don't know, but I suspect that the Sentencing Guidelines (which remove a great deal of judicial discretion in federal criminal sentencing) may have something to do with it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Sentencing_Guidelines

[Valmy]

1. War on Drugs
2. Longer sentences

Fixed

[Martinus]

Also, I was surprised to learn about some states depriving convicts of voting rights AFTER they have served their term. Notwithstanding the fact that it seems counter-productive in terms of allowing reintegration with the society, how is it even justified? 

[Valmy]

Shocker! Especially considering the great efforts that politicians have made in this country to close mental hospitals to save money and reduce budget spending. I figured the number would be much higher. 

No shit.  The 'reform' of mental health has been a total disaster.

[Valmy]

Also, I was surprised to learn about some states depriving convicts of voting rights AFTER they have served their term. Notwithstanding the fact that it seems counter-productive in terms of allowing reintegration with the society, how is it even justified? 

You get screwed in a billion ways after you get out of jail.  It is virtually impossible to get a decent job also.  Once you are convicted you are screwed for life and that is probably why alot of ex-cons end up right back in crime.  The doors for going straight all get slammed in their faces.

Alot of them still manage though.  I know there are some businesses that still take a chance by hiring ex-cons.  The repair shop I take my car to has alot of them for example.

[Berkut]

My take on what would be the main causes of the differences between the US on one hand and Europe and Canada on the other would be as follows (in the order of influence):

1. War on Terror
2. Longer sentences
3. Possibly (?) access to firearms and greater social/financial equalities in the populace.

If you were a baseball player, you would be a great hitter with the rate of accuracy in your post.

[Berkut]

I dunno, it does seem pretty outrageous, and the necessary qualifiers just underlie what is outrageous about it.

It is outrageous on the numbers - a clear indictment of the War on Drugs.

Crap like pointing out that lots of people in jail are "mentally ill" and how we are "punishing the children" is emotive bullshit, and makes the article crap. But then, the goal isn't to simply point out the problem, it is to enrage and get people like Marty all worked up. Because the numbers alone don't do it, I guess. Lord knows these numbers are well known and reported in a considerably less hysterical manner elsewhere - but then, those articles don't get the attention.

[Neil]

Of course it was lower, we sent all the criminals to jail!

That doesn't make much sense.  How would we have a higher percentage of people in jail with proportionately fewer arrests?  Are prosecuters just alot better now?  Defense lawyers just that much worse?  Our courts are becoming kangaroo courts?

If I put ten thousand homosexuals into a concentration camp one year, 9,000 the next and 8,000 the year after, the total number of homosexuals in my concentration camp has increased, even though the number of arrests has decreased.

[Valmy]

If you were a baseball player, you would be a great hitter with the rate of accuracy in your post.

Yeah how could a phenonmenon that started in the 1980s have anything to do with the war on terror or guns?  We have had guns forever before then and the war on terror did not start up until this decade.

[Berkut]

Also, I was surprised to learn about some states depriving convicts of voting rights AFTER they have served their term. Notwithstanding the fact that it seems counter-productive in terms of allowing reintegration with the society, how is it even justified? 

You get screwed in a billion ways after you get out of jail.  It is virtually impossible to get a decent job also.  Once you are convicted you are screwed for life and that is probably why alot of ex-cons end up right back in crime.  The doors for going straight all get slammed in their faces.

Alot of them still manage though.  I know there are some businesses that still take a chance by hiring ex-cons.  The repair shop I take my car to has alot of them for example.

Is this different in other Western Countries?

Do convicted felons (and that is what we are talking about) have trouble getting jobs in Belgium or France or Japan or Canada?

[Valmy]

If I put ten thousand homosexuals into a concentration camp one year, 9,000 the next and 8,000 the year after, the total number of homosexuals in my concentration camp has increased, even though the number of arrests has decreased.

Yeah but after 25 years alot of the original homosexuals would start to die off...yet the number is continuing to increase despite the lower number of arrests.