If being in prison were an occupation, it would be one of the most common jobs in the country. Yup, the U.S. is the world’s superpower of incarceration: This country puts more of its citizens behind bars than any other nation. In fact, most states spend more money incarcerating prisoners than educating students. But it wasn’t always that way. How did we turn into a nation that addresses its social ills by locking its citizens behind bars… and sometimes throwing away the key? Here’s the breakdown of some of the most f#$%ed up things about America’s prison obsession. Full Article
I sent an e-mail to the author advising her that there is a 15th F#$@&%& thing. The ridiculous ways a person can become a sex offender and the Draconian sentences (mandatory minimums) that apply!
Locking people up in Amerika has become an industry, just like education and religion and the government that passes all these immoral laws that allow this to happen; all this feeds the banking institutions and the people whose first love is money. Is it any wonder I would get out of here and willingly renounce me citizenship if I could? I’m a prisoner here just like all registrants; weather they are willing to admit it or not.
“I’m a prisoner here just like all registrants.” They don’t want me and they don’t want me to leave? Where is the common sense in all this?
Don’t just complain here. There is a divestment in private prisons campaign that we should support: http://colorofchange.org/campaign/end-profit-imprisonment/
There are other organizations also trying to end mass incarceration if you don’t wish to support this one.
Tim
This is a good one too. http://www.change.org/
It’s about more than prison reform; that is to say there are petitions for a wide range of social ills.
Yes. I’ve signed several of their petitions. Seems too easy to do much good, yet I believe it keeps the knuckle heads who call themselves our leaders watching their backs. The divestment campaign seems to be a movement that has potential. Read this: http://www.mintpressnews.com/a-win-for-civil-society-as-corporations-divest-from-private-prison-industry/190258/ .
A small start maybe but something that is working. Add that to push backs from ca rsol on the ordinances and you start to aggregate a push for change. Nothing attracts Americans’ interest like success.
Tim:
I get emails that notify me when there has been a success from this site. I’ve received quite a few, which leads me to believe the people starting these petitions are getting results, and I’m never solicited for money which leads me to believe it’s a credible site. I’ve signed up to some sites that quickly start asking for money, and I just as quickly unsign-up and send any correspondence from them to the spam folder. You should try it for a while and then post your assessment of the site here.
Hi Q. I do get the emails, but even if something isn’t that successful, I’ll still sign on to what I see as right. The better the documentation provided with the petition, the more confidence I have in signing the petition. That’s the danger with petitions, it’s easy to sign something because you like the subject or it makes you angry, or taps into some other emotional hot button. Then it becomes a manipulation tool for the politician.