Re: Record-high ratio of Americans in prison


"Bo Raxo" <crimenewscenter@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:apydnYVJjpZB0FfanZ2dnUVZ_gKdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Chocolic" <chatter448@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:WSryj.690959$kj1.228367@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Bo Raxo" <crimenewscenter@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:GM-dnTMH54z42VfanZ2dnUVZ_judnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Stan Engel" <Stan_engel@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:47c76005$0$26005$88260bb3@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer 1 hour, 30 minutes ago
NEW YORK - For the first time in U.S. history, more than one of every 100 adults is in jail or prison, according to a new report documenting America's rank as the world's No. 1 incarcerator. It urges states to curtail corrections spending by placing fewer low-risk offenders behind bars.



There were a number of other interesting conclusions in the study, which the press reports I've seen don't highlight.

One was the lack of correlation between incarceration and crime rates.

Take New York and Florida. Start at a baseline of 1993. Today, Florida's number of incarcerated people (using 2007 figures) is up 127%.

New York has fewer people in prison today than in 1993 (again, using 2007 figures).

Florida's crime rate compared to '93? Up. Property crimes, violent crimes, both.

New York's? Down.

Now in the case of New York this isn't because they locked up fewer people, it's because (among other things) NYC changed policing policies, focusing on lower level offenses as "gateways" to worse offenses, getting cops out of cars and walking beats, and a bunch of other things loosely called community policing.

But that just highlights the point that to lower crime, the best strategies aren't to lock up more people for longer terms.


Bo Raxo



They also don't mention the non-Americans that are incarcerated in the American prisons.

Chocolic


Excellent point. Let's give that some thought.

We have this fucked up policy where we don't let guest workers come over in a legal manner. So we instead have them sneaking over the border, paying "coyotes" to smuggle them, and when they get here, living under the radar.

The result? We get massive numbers of immigrants who are selected for their willingness and ability to circumvent the law. The more educated, more genteel, more law-abiding people - the very ones we would *want* as immigrants - are selected out, in some kind of perverse Darwinian selection that is practically designed to bring us the least desirable.

Open borders, or closed borders. Fine. But leaky borders are a sieve that lets through only the least desirable - the poorest, most desperate, people with the fewest ties to their communities back home, people who are able to find smugglers and willing to pay them (relatively) large sums.

That's what our head-in-the-sand policy gives us.


Bo Raxo


Because of the massive amount of illegal immigrants which is growing despite any deterants, BICE 'administratively' deports the illegals. That means they aren't charged with anything so to speak. Even though they often are using somebody else's ID, they aren't charged with using false social security numbers, or identity theft (and often getting IRS benefits because of that). It's too expensive to pursue it as there are so many and the federal court systems are hugely over burdened. Sometimes the nonviolent ones are released on bond and told to get head back (often families, juveniles, etc., that have committed no crimes) and other times the BICE has their own special airplanes that travel back and fourth moving illegals back to their country. It is very expensive and uses up hundreds upon hundreds of law enforcement manpower hours that costs the government a lot of moolah.

When they illegally return they are charged with illegal reentry and are kept in custody locally for a while. Then they often get sentences of time served (plus another week or twoish) and the USMS and BOP work together at getting the arrangements to fly them back to their country. If they come back again (as they often do) then they get stiffer sentences and off to the federal bureau of prisons for a while.

The real difficult and expensive deportations are the ones from countries such as Germany, or Denmark, or Haiti, etc. as there aren't as many to fill up a plane and special expensive arrangements have to be made.

The ones that are filling up the prisons are the ones commiting serious crimes. They are here illegally, then charged with rapes, murders, various narcotics violations, armed robberies. Those are the ones that are helping to fill up the prisons and adding to the 1 in 100 stats of incarcerated prisoners. When they are released then they will be deported. Only to return.

Ah, it's such a circle.

Chocolic

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