# 1% of us in Prison



## Wandering Man (Jul 9, 2006)

Between Prison and Autism (another form of imprisonment?), I think we've accounted for 1.7% of the population.

*Report: More than 1 in every 100 Americans behind bars*



> Associated Press
> Originally published 09:00 p.m., February 28, 2008
> Updated 09:00 p.m., February 28, 2008
> 
> ...


http://www.caller.com/news/2008/feb/28/report-more-1-every-100-americans-behind-bars/

That means that 88 of us on the forum could be either in prison or autistic.

WM


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## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

We have become jail-happy in America. People get locked up for possessing marijuana and committing white-collar crimes, while violent offenders get released early. It's bizarre, but I guess some of it reflects the deep neo-Puritan streak in America.

Meanwhile, we keep churning out new laws to make more and more things criminal.

_"The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws."_ - Ayn Rand


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## Todd (Jul 3, 2006)

Wandering Man said:


> Between Prison and Autism (another form of imprisonment?), I think we've accounted for 1.7% of the population.
> 
> *Report: More than 1 in every 100 Americans behind bars*
> 
> ...


Well, I'm not in jail, so I must have Autism. Or at least ADD. Now what was I doing again? :mrgreen:


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## submoa (Dec 16, 2007)

The death penalty combined with summary execution is useful. Some crimes just shouldn't be worthy of appeal. If you get caught with your DNA inside a 9 year old girl, the world has no use for you.


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## sirgknight (Feb 21, 2008)

Well, I work in a state prison and I can tell you that it is time for the pendulum to swing the other way. We have become too liberal, too politically correct, too psychological and too scared of lawsuits to adequately manage the inmate population. Our inmates have entirely too many amenities and not enough discipline, education or work-related activities. If prison were really prison, then we wouldn't have near as many repeat offenders taking up bed space that should be for some of those thousands waiting in county jails to come into the state system. Our bleeding heart liberals have practically destroyed our (the correctional system) ability to properly manage the disobedient, radical and disrespectful inmate. We don't need to return to the days of being cruel, but we still a means by which we can give a real attitude adjustment for unacceptable behavior. Our lawmakers need to make the punishment suitable to the crime. IMHO anyone who commits any kind of aggravated crime, whether it be armed robbery, rape, murder, child molestation, assault, etc. should get "LIFE". We need to have the gumption to say "enough is enough' - either you live by the rules or you are removed from the society. It's pretty bad when a drug dealer gets more time than a murderer. We need to get our priorities straightened out. Sure, drugs are dangerous and they have a rippling affect on a lot of people, but we need to find a different kind of punishment besides hard beds. We have inmated coming back into the sytem with a mere technical parole violation. This is stupid. It scares me to see what our correctional system has turned into and continues to evolve into a system of "warehousing humans".


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## Baldy (Jun 21, 2006)

sirgknight said:


> Well, I work in a state prison and I can tell you that it is time for the pendulum to swing the other way. We have become too liberal, too politically correct, too psychological and too scared of lawsuits to adequately manage the inmate population. Our inmates have entirely too many amenities and not enough discipline, education or work-related activities. If prison were really prison, then we wouldn't have near as many repeat offenders taking up bed space that should be for some of those thousands waiting in county jails to come into the state system. Our bleeding heart liberals have practically destroyed our (the correctional system) ability to properly manage the disobedient, radical and disrespectful inmate. We don't need to return to the days of being cruel, but we still a means by which we can give a real attitude adjustment for unacceptable behavior. Our lawmakers need to make the punishment suitable to the crime. IMHO anyone who commits any kind of aggravated crime, whether it be armed robbery, rape, murder, child molestation, assault, etc. should get "LIFE". We need to have the gumption to say "enough is enough' - either you live by the rules or you are removed from the society. It's pretty bad when a drug dealer gets more time than a murderer. We need to get our priorities straightened out. Sure, drugs are dangerous and they have a rippling affect on a lot of people, but we need to find a different kind of punishment besides hard beds. We have inmated coming back into the sytem with a mere technical parole violation. This is stupid. It scares me to see what our correctional system has turned into and continues to evolve into a system of "warehousing humans".


Very good read from a man who knows.:smt023


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## Charlie (May 13, 2006)

I have a real problem with the name "Texas Dept. of Corrections". :smt076 I always wondered what they corrected. I tend to agree with sirgnight and would carry the blame a little further into the court system and straight to the JUDGES!!! What small spectrum of what I have observed of the court system in Texas borders on the ridiculous most of the time. Unfortunely it also appears common sense in sentencing and assessing consequences (from counseling to confinement and more) is long gone in most cases. Consistency does not exist. Judges have waaay to much dscretionary power. A three person panel would be much more efficient (especially if that was the only job they had!). Are there states that have any success with their justice systems? At this point it appears there are no answers, only opinions. Oh well........


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## john doe. (Aug 26, 2006)

sirgknight said:


> Well, I work in a state prison and I can tell you that it is time for the pendulum to swing the other way. We have become too liberal, too politically correct, too psychological and too scared of lawsuits to adequately manage the inmate population. Our inmates have entirely too many amenities and not enough discipline, education or work-related activities. If prison were really prison, then we wouldn't have near as many repeat offenders taking up bed space that should be for some of those thousands waiting in county jails to come into the state system. Our bleeding heart liberals have practically destroyed our (the correctional system) ability to properly manage the disobedient, radical and disrespectful inmate. We don't need to return to the days of being cruel, but we still a means by which we can give a real attitude adjustment for unacceptable behavior. Our lawmakers need to make the punishment suitable to the crime. IMHO anyone who commits any kind of aggravated crime, whether it be armed robbery, rape, murder, child molestation, assault, etc. should get "LIFE". We need to have the gumption to say "enough is enough' - either you live by the rules or you are removed from the society. It's pretty bad when a drug dealer gets more time than a murderer. We need to get our priorities straightened out. Sure, drugs are dangerous and they have a rippling affect on a lot of people, but we need to find a different kind of punishment besides hard beds. We have inmated coming back into the sytem with a mere technical parole violation. This is stupid. It scares me to see what our correctional system has turned into and continues to evolve into a system of "warehousing humans".


Nice post. One of my brothers works in an Indiana prison. He says the same things. He is lucky in that they allow him to bring his Christianity to work and talk to prisoners about it.

Weather you believe in God or not one must admit that having good Christian morals would only benefit society. As long as those Christians did as they should.


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## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

tnoisaw said:


> Weather you believe in God or not one must admit that having good Christian morals would only benefit society. As long as those Christians did as they should.


I'm not so sure about that. Perhaps it depends on which brand of Christianity we're talking about, but I am not sure asking people to live at odds with human nature is such a great idea. Anyway, you can read the Sermon on the Mount as a defense of socialist ideas...and that's certainly not a society I'd want to live in.

Don't get me wrong - I know many, many Christians who are _very_ outstanding people, but I manage to live a good moral life without the compass of religion. Still, as Jeff Cooper wrote, _"Seven in ten people need moral guidance from without."_ I'm just not sure the Christian version of morality is the correct one.

If I had to pick one of the "big three" religions upon which to base a society, I think I would choose Judaism. Not that building a society on religion would be my first or even third choice.


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