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Nurse Suspected of Killing Up to 46 Kids Set to Leave Prison

The Thriller said:
If our prisons are crowded why not build more? If we don't have the monies then why are we still shipping billions to Egypt?
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Why did the Republicans start a stupid war on drugs in the first place?

*hint* the same reason Dems send money to Egypt.
 
The Thriller said:
If our prisons are crowded why not build more? If we don't have the monies then why are we still shipping billions to Egypt?
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Because there are millions of people in prison who don't need to be there. It is inhumane to imprison people who do not pose a threat to anyone.

Build more? We have been. We can't keep up. There are still millions of black people on the street despite the best efforts of the drug war.
 
Gameface said:
Because there are millions of people in prison who don't need to be there. It is inhumane to imprison people who do not pose a threat to anyone.

Build more? We have been. We can't keep up. There are still millions of black people on the street despite the best efforts of the drug war.
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Straight to the race card, huh? You look just as crazy as Thriller when you do that.
 
green said:
Straight to the race card, huh? You look just as crazy as Thriller when you do that.
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Look up who gets arrested for drug offenses. Look up who gets prison sentences for drug offenses.

Get back to me.

Besides that I said it tongue in cheek. Get a sense of humor.
 
green said:
Straight to the race card, huh? You look just as crazy as Thriller when you do that.
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Well, until you look at the statistics of how our drug laws are enforced, when Gameface's point suddenly looks quite sane.
 
green said:
I agree with everything you said. The problem here is you are talking about the ideal and I am talking about reality. Reality is, most murderers don't spend 29 years in prison. Heck, most don't spend 10 years in prison. If she had killed a 21 year old instead of a baby, she would have been released a long time ago. Is that fair that she spent 29 years in prison, and someone who killed a young adult only got 7?

The drug issue is one of the bigger problems. This "war on drugs" is pathetic. The mandatory guidelines fill our prisons up with "victories" from the war on drugs and murderers and child molesters are allowed to go free. Messed up.
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Agreed.
 
Gameface said:
Look up who gets arrested for drug offenses. Look up who gets prison sentences for drug offenses.

Get back to me.

Besides that I said it tongue in cheek. Get a sense of humor.
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Is that on a per capita basis or in some other way normalized? Is it possible that the reason it appears racially lop-sided is because it really is racially lop-sided? No one ever talks about that part because they don't want to be labeled a "racialist", but it has to be considered. Either it is a vast conspiracy against people of color, or maybe there is just a bigger problem among that community than others. Are we even allowed to consider that possibility or do we instantly get demonized for even hinting at it?

I know there is way more behind it than just race, and that there are way more issues that tie into this. It is like a giant jenga puzzle. You can't pull one stick and say "here is the whole truth" while the rest collapses around you. But it is still a valid point to consider.
 
LogGrad98 said:
Is that on a per capita basis or in some other way normalized? Is it possible that the reason it appears racially lop-sided is because it really is racially lop-sided? No one ever talks about that part because they don't want to be labeled a "racialist", but it has to be considered. Either it is a vast conspiracy against people of color, or maybe there is just a bigger problem among that community than others. Are we even allowed to consider that possibility or do we instantly get demonized for even hinting at it?

I know there is way more behind it than just race, and that there are way more issues that tie into this. It is like a giant jenga puzzle. You can't pull one stick and say "here is the whole truth" while the rest collapses around you. But it is still a valid point to consider.
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Use is pretty consistent regardless of skin color. Minorities do not use drugs significantly more than whites.

I think part of it is the mentality of police departments in poor minority communities vs white suburban communities. As a teen I was in a car that got pulled over and the officers found pot on one of my friends. We were in the Olympus Hills area. We were let go without so much as a ticket. Had we been charged with the crimes we had committed it would have led to years of involvement in the system and living under a set of standards very different than that which people outside the system have to live.

The sentencing discrepancy is harder to explain but I guess in part it probably has to do with what sort of legal help you can afford.

But the numbers are staggering. It's not a small issue. It's a really really big issue. I was first made aware of what was up listening to NPR where a woman who studied the issues called it modern day Jim Crow. Seemed a little over dramatic to me, but then I looked into it and ultimately is does set up a divided society in which some people are held to a stricter legal standard than the other part of society. Not only is it reflected in prison population, but the parole/probation system along with the employability of those who have records (when white people who did the exact same thing never faced prosecution in the first place) creates a very unequal society. This unequal society sends the signal to poor minorities that this is not their society and it has nothing to offer them, thus continuing the cycle.

The drug war is a tragedy and it needs to end as soon as possible. It is not protecting us from the evils of drugs. It has completely failed on that front. The drug war itself is causing more harm than legalized drugs ever could.
 
Gameface said:
Use is pretty consistent regardless of skin color. Minorities do not use drugs significantly more than whites.

I think part of it is the mentality of police departments in poor minority communities vs white suburban communities. As a teen I was in a car that got pulled over and the officers found pot on one of my friends. We were in the Olympus Hills area. We were let go without so much as a ticket. Had we been charged with the crimes we had committed it would have led to years of involvement in the system and living under a set of standards very different than that which people outside the system have to live.

The sentencing discrepancy is harder to explain but I guess in part it probably has to do with what sort of legal help you can afford.

But the numbers are staggering. It's not a small issue. It's a really really big issue. I was first made aware of what was up listening to NPR where a woman who studied the issues called it modern day Jim Crow. Seemed a little over dramatic to me, but then I looked into it and ultimately is does set up a divided society in which some people are held to a stricter legal standard than the other part of society. Not only is it reflected in prison population, but the parole/probation system along with the employability of those who have records (when white people who did the exact same thing never faced prosecution in the first place) creates a very unequal society. This unequal society sends the signal to poor minorities that this is not their society and it has nothing to offer them, thus continuing the cycle.

The drug war is a tragedy and it needs to end as soon as possible. It is not protecting us from the evils of drugs. It has completely failed on that front. The drug war itself is causing more harm than legalized drugs ever could.
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Thanks for this. I don't know a lot about all of this, but I'd be willing to bet the truth is somewhere in between what you and Loggrad posted. Would be very interested to learn more about this. Any links I can read?
 
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