Prisons Aren't Meant to Be "The Projects"

Prisons aren't meant to be the projects; of course, I'm not sure which has the most fences surrounding it- of course that is a whole other topic...A New York Times article prompted this blog:

Reported by New York Time's Adam Liptak:

"Conditions in California’s overcrowded prisons are so bad that they violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday, ordering the state to reduce its prison population by more than 30,000 inmates."

The United States is the world's leader in incarceration with 2.3 million people currently in the nation's prisons or jails -- a 500% increase over the past thirty years. These trends have resulted in prison overcrowding and state governments being overwhelmed by the burden of funding a rapidly expanding penal system, despite increasing evidence that large-scale incarceration is not the most effective means of achieving public safety.

The Sentencing Project provides this very glaring statistic:

More than 60% of the people in prison are now racial and ethnic minorities. For Black males in their twenties, 1 in every 8 is in prison or jail on any given day. These trends have been intensified by the disproportionate impact of the "war on drugs," in which three-fourths of all persons in prison for drug offenses are people of color.

What this statistic doesn't tell us, is how resources that should be used to house those within our society that should be in prison for "rehabilitation" is being used to house people that pose no real threat to society. The people were arrested for PURCHASING DRUGS FOR PERSONAL USE. I am not condoning drug use, I am merely highlighting a fact that gets lost in the statistics game of law enforcement. I understand that drug abuse is not only the user; those that sell drugs are addicted to the life that drug trafficking has provided. A drug conviction (especially crack cocaine) is not considered a violent crime, but a "crime of violence." The lifestyle and violence that goes along with crack cocaine is what these men (mainly people of color) are being convicted on; distribution, or possession with the intent to distribute. When paraphernalia carries a 10 year prison term, we have a problem.

Prisons are dangerously overcrowded and that forces the co-habitation of inmates that pose a threat to everyone, and inmates that could be better served with proper rehabilitation programs. Many of these programs have been discontinued due to "lack of funding," which leads to churches and communities taking on the burden of providing a service in which they are not properly qualified, staffed, or educated. If you came to this blog by way of Facebook, please go to The Sentencing Project's page. Don't just click like, read the material; know what is happening, because contrary to popular belief the punishment doesn't always fit the crime.

This blog is not sponsored by The Sentencing Project, and the statements made herein may or may not reflect the views of the Sentencing Project, its affiliates, subsidiaries, sponsors or parent companies.

To Raise or Not to Raise...The Debt Ceiling and "Reaganomics"

Yesterday (May 16, 2011) U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner gave a rough deadline of August 2nd for the nation's debt ceiling to be raised by about $2,000,000,000,000.00. That is about 14% of the current debt limit. It would take an additional two trillion dollars to keep America from defaulting on debts....WOW!!!

I find it amazing how the political arguments have shifted from one party to another on the major issues that our country is faced with...Universal Healthcare was supported by both sides at different times for the purpose of winning the popularity battle with voters. It was also fought against by both sides; with both drastically overstating and understating the ramifications, respectively.

Now we have the debt ceiling, which our current president voted against when proposed by his predecessor. Of course, the consequences [no risk of default] weren't as great then...but are as significantly great as in 1983 when President Reagan (pictured above) requested that the ceiling be raised. In a letter to then Senate Majority Leader Howard, President Reagan warned that without a higher debt ceiling the country would be forced to default for the first time in its history:

Reagan wrote: “The full consequences of a default – or even the serious prospect of default – by the United States are impossible to predict and awesome to contemplate. Denigration of the full faith and credit of the United States would have substantial effects on the domestic financial markets and the value of the dollar.”

Those that oppose raising the debt ceiling make accusations that "defaulting" is only a scare tactic used by President Obama and Treasury Secretary Geithner. Freshman Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) says that "breaching the limit would cause only a partial government shutdown." Too bad it isn't the part that pays his salary.

All of the citizens of this country that oppose raising the debt ceiling please take a look at Iceland. Do you want to go to the bank one day only to be told that everything that you worked hard for is gone? FDIC insured you say? If we are willing to allow our decision-makers (and I use the term loosely) to play a game of chicken with the national debt, then the money that’s in the bank is as good as worthless. The tick for tack politics of wanting to rewrite Universal Healthcare (some know it as Obamacare) for approval on raising the debt ceiling is unacceptable. The time for political posturing is not now. There is a looming crisis with a solution staring it right in the face. Call your political representative, whether they are Democrat, Republican, Independent or a Tea Party affiliate, and demand that they do what is necessary to keep the bills paid. Hold their re-election ransom. Far too many people have already lost everything; not enough people have recovered- let’s not let it get worse. 

Celebrating the Death of bin Laden; I Undertand but Don't Agree

How long has Osama (Usama for FOX viewers) bin Laden been dead? There are multiple reports that he has died, or been killed, since December 2001. My own personal response to this is...SO WHAT!!! Conspiracy theories do us no good; except for distract us from other very real issues.

I am a firm believer that former President George W. Bush had nothing to do with 9/11, sorry Michael Moore; and would have taken the same action as President Obama to get rid of Osama bin Laden had the opportunity presented itself...even if he was preoccupied with terminating Saddam Hussein and liberating (oil from) Iraq. Conspiracy theorists would have me (us) believe that bin Laden not only survived in caves with a dialysis machine strapped to him like a suicide bomb, but that he also died somewhere between a week to a decade ago, depending on the motive for their story.

Had Osama bin Laden died or been killed before now, especially during the Bush presidency, I am 100% certain that George W. would have also interrupted Celebrity Apprentice to give us the news. Even worse, had this happened any time prior to the 2008 election, we would now have a McCain/ Palin White House; or at the very least, a Republican President and VP (most likely Condoleezza Rice).  Oh, yeah, and the Tea Party probably wouldn't exist...

Back to the death of Al Qaeda's leader; has bin Laden really been more than a figurehead since September 11, 2001? He was the face of the "War on Terror!" Now that his death has been confirmed, I can honestly say that I am neither overjoyed nor empathetic to either side. His death does not bring back the lives he took and seemed to only make those that lost someone to the attacks on the American Embassies abroad, the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the flights remember sadness.

It has been reported that Osama bin Laden received a proper Muslim burial at sea as to not have his gravesite become a shrine to future terrorists. Well, it looks like the media has done an even better job of turning him into a martyr, by constantly running the story of his death. With every report of his death, there are mentions of his "accomplishments" as a terrorist. Yes, we trained him, armed him, and eventually became one of his victims. Isn't this the type of vulnerability we shouldn't be showing the world? Exhibit A- Major Nidal Malik Hasan and Fort Hood; this infiltration was only two years ago. As it has been stated by many, killing Osama bin Laden is not the end; hopefully it puts us one step closer. Let us remember that while his death may be cause for Americans to celebrate, it serves as motivation for an equal number of terrorists to bring about even more death and destruction. 

With that being said, can we get back to caring for those that have lost loved ones and homes to tornados, earthquakes and tsunamis? You know, those very real issues.