By: Zach W

Zach W — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:39:58 +0000

I think a big part of the problem is how partisan the issue of crime has become. Any time someone proposes changes that might actually reduce recidivism, some inevitably scream “soft on crime.” No one wants to be labeled soft on crime, and thus, no change ever occurs.

By: PartiallyBlue

PartiallyBlue — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:10:47 +0000

I am not up to speed on ‘corrections’ goals and objectives so I will withhold comment on that portion. However, there are too many people in jail and not enough alternatives.
If all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail. I think that there are plenty of people in jail who committed a crime but are not criminally-oriented. We need more approaches than incarceration in my opinion. There is a debt to society to be paid for some crimes and there is justice to be upheld in punishing criminals. Yet there is stupidity in 150 year sentences and 4 back-to-back life sentences. Locking up teenagers for decades for consensual sex is abominable. Letting genetically pre-disposed sex offenders into society is outrageous. Somewhere in this correctional nightmare there must be pragmatism. Where is it?

Comments on: Let’s get smart about spending corrections dollars

By: Zach W

By: PartiallyBlue