The U.S. with 1/20 the world's population, imprisons 1/4 of its inmates. We have long known that imprisoning people destroys particularly the young who are most likely to commit crimes (or to be wrongly suspected of having done so and jailed nevertheless). Years ago one of our leading Brooklyn judges spearheaded a first offender amnesty movement (for non violent crimes), but the bill which passed in NY's legislative bodies was vetoed by the little known replacement for Rockefeller who moved on to replace the disgraced Republican Vice President of those times. And 'getting tough on crime' became the way for conservative pols to defeat progressive opponents. The stats here tell it all -- not who commits crimes, but who is most likely to be imprisoned as a despised and under-defended suspect. Ed Kent -- Despite Drop in Crime, an Increase in Inmates By FOX BUTTERFIELD The number of inmates in state and federal prisons rose 2.1 percent last year, even as violent crime and property crime fell.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/08/national/08prisons.html?th -- P.S. The U.S. is one of a literal handful of nations that still executes juveniles: http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR510221999?open&of=ENG-392 -- "A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy) -- Ed Kent 718-951-5324 (voice mail only) [blind copies] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CollegeConversation http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PeaceEfforts http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EndingPoverty http://groups.yahoo.com/group/440neighborhood http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StudentConcerns ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/XgSolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> ----- / o o \ ===OO=====OO============================================= (4)Portals (2)News Wikis (2)Conferences - No BuSHIT! Start here: http://pnews.org/ (On Internet since 1982) http://pnews.org/PhpWiki/ (West Coast News Wiki) http://g0lem.net/PhpWiki/ (East Coast News Wiki) ========================================================= FIGHT THE RIGHT! ================== Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rhetoric-list/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
