Comments on: America Behind Bars http://providencedailydose.com/2008/04/23/america-behind-bars/ News/Arts/Culture/Nightlife/Nonsense/Obscurities Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:31:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Adam Liptak Strikes Again | Providence Daily Dose http://providencedailydose.com/2008/04/23/america-behind-bars/#comment-4495 Adam Liptak Strikes Again | Providence Daily Dose Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:26:22 +0000 http://providencedailydose.com/2008/04/23/america-behind-bars/#comment-4495 [...] time with a commentary on race and the death penalty. I’m starting to love this guy. In today’s Times, Liptak examines a forthcoming study by the Houston Law Review on racial [...] [...] time with a commentary on race and the death penalty. I’m starting to love this guy. In today’s Times, Liptak examines a forthcoming study by the Houston Law Review on racial [...]

]]> By: JOE BERNSTEIN http://providencedailydose.com/2008/04/23/america-behind-bars/#comment-4267 JOE BERNSTEIN Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:02:50 +0000 http://providencedailydose.com/2008/04/23/america-behind-bars/#comment-4267 Use the space to lock up predatory criminals-sex offenders,robbers,burglars,and the randomly violent thugs who attack others with no provocation.Also commercial level drug traffickers. .Have shorter terms of probation with more intensive supervision.I am no kind of liberal or bleeding heart.I just believe in putting resources where they are likely to do the most good. Use the space to lock up predatory criminals-sex offenders,robbers,burglars,and the randomly violent thugs who attack others with no provocation.Also commercial level drug traffickers.

.Have shorter terms of probation with more intensive supervision.I am no kind of liberal or bleeding heart.I just believe in putting resources where they are likely to do the most good.

]]> By: Not the whole story... http://providencedailydose.com/2008/04/23/america-behind-bars/#comment-4246 Not the whole story... Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:11:48 +0000 http://providencedailydose.com/2008/04/23/america-behind-bars/#comment-4246 Try getting at the root sources of crime - not making life easier for those who commit them! Also from the NYT article - “As one might expect, a good case can be made that fewer Americans are now being victimized” thanks to the tougher crime policies, Paul G. Cassell, an authority on sentencing and a former federal judge, wrote in The Stanford Law Review. From 1981 to 1996, according to Justice Department statistics, the risk of punishment rose in the United States and fell in England. The crime rates predictably moved in the opposite directions, falling in the United States and rising in England. “These figures,” Mr. Cassell wrote, “should give one pause before too quickly concluding that European sentences are appropriate.” Other commentators were more definitive. “The simple truth is that imprisonment works,” wrote Kent Scheidegger and Michael Rushford of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in The Stanford Law and Policy Review. “Locking up criminals for longer periods reduces the level of crime. The benefits of doing so far offset the costs.” Try getting at the root sources of crime - not making life easier for those who commit them!

Also from the NYT article -

“As one might expect, a good case can be made that fewer Americans are now being victimized” thanks to the tougher crime policies, Paul G. Cassell, an authority on sentencing and a former federal judge, wrote in The Stanford Law Review.

From 1981 to 1996, according to Justice Department statistics, the risk of punishment rose in the United States and fell in England. The crime rates predictably moved in the opposite directions, falling in the United States and rising in England.

“These figures,” Mr. Cassell wrote, “should give one pause before too quickly concluding that European sentences are appropriate.”

Other commentators were more definitive. “The simple truth is that imprisonment works,” wrote Kent Scheidegger and Michael Rushford of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in The Stanford Law and Policy Review. “Locking up criminals for longer periods reduces the level of crime. The benefits of doing so far offset the costs.”

]]> By: JOE BERNSTEIN http://providencedailydose.com/2008/04/23/america-behind-bars/#comment-4238 JOE BERNSTEIN Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:08:31 +0000 http://providencedailydose.com/2008/04/23/america-behind-bars/#comment-4238 Too many people are locked up on drug possession charges.Most other states such as New York have misdemeanor violations for smaller amounts of hard drugs-not RI,and additionally RI has the most ridiculous long probation sentences I've ever seen. The imprisonment for not paying"costs"is counter-productive if the individual is not re-offending otherwise. Aliens(legal and illegal) serving sentences for non-violent or less serious drug offenses should be deported in lieu of being incarcerated at state expense.I'm not suggesting this apply to violent or other serious felons or drug traffickers. Then maybe sexual predators won't be able to hit the street until they're on walkers,or maybe never at all. Too many people are locked up on drug possession charges.Most other states such as New York have misdemeanor violations for smaller amounts of hard drugs-not RI,and additionally RI has the most ridiculous long probation sentences I’ve ever seen.
The imprisonment for not paying”costs”is counter-productive if the individual is not re-offending otherwise.
Aliens(legal and illegal) serving sentences for non-violent or less serious drug offenses should be deported in lieu of being incarcerated at state expense.I’m not suggesting this apply to violent or other serious felons or drug traffickers.
Then maybe sexual predators won’t be able to hit the street until they’re on walkers,or maybe never at all.

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