The $250,000 joint

[eridani]

http://www.alternet.org/story/146215/%EF%BB%BFthe_%24250%2C000_joint

On March 23, 2010, after 19 years in prison, Amir was released. He came by my office and I hugged him. I shared a laugh with him when he showed me a check he had received, issued by the prison from their parole release funds in the amount of 83 cents. What the hell was he suppose to do with that check, I asked. When I telephoned Albany County District attorney David Soares and asked him his opinion of Amir's case, he described it as a travesty of justice.

In this time of economic crisis in New York State, when politicians are looking for solutions to reduce the budget deficit, they need look no further than the state's correctional system. That single joint Amir smoked cost him an additional 5 years in prison, and taxpayers roughly $250,000. Was it worth keeping him in prison and punishing him for an additional 5 years after serving 14 years for a first time non-violent crime? How many other Amirs are wasting away in our gulags?

To reduce the budget deficit, law makers need to take a good look at our criminal justice system and how punitive methods of incarceration waste not only billions of dollars, but also human lives.

[Make7]

1. Man... this shit better be good... [inhales] ... it's REALLY expensive... [cough] ... ( n/t )

[Echo In Light]

2. k/r

[hedgehog]

3. How low would tution at the State Universities be if we stopped

locking up pot heads?

[eridani]

5. I think that back in 1988, Jesse Jackson used to say

"Penn State-$15K a year; state pen-$20K a year. Train our youth!"

[Newest Reality]

4. Wait ... hasn't the system come to a point

were incarcerating people IS the POINT?

Obviously the costs involved could be better used more productively elsewhere, especially when we are weighing that against non-violent crimes and petty, first offenses. Obviously!

The will of the State is to incarcerate. Everyone knows the stats on which country has the highest incarceration rate per capita. There is a lot of money in the industry and privatization is an issue in that field, as well.

I think more of us going into the American gulag is a trend that will only increase, (however much it is offset by State and municipal budget crises). That's what you git with Military Industrial Complex. War and prison are good business.

[Uncle Joe]

6. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, eridani.