Prison Reform. A Request to the Obama-Biden Presidency

PLEASE SUPPORT SENATOR WEBB (D-VA) IN HIS QUEST TO REALLY REFORM THIS MESS. AND STOP ONCE AND FOR ALL THE CRIMINALIZATION OF OUR SOCIETY AND IN PARTICULAR OUR YOUTH.
The US prison/jail statistics are horrific
- We have the world's greatest per capita prison population, as a comparison, 7 times greater than that of Canada.

-We have 5% of the world's population and 25% of the world's prison population.

I have been pondering this issue for a long time. Why does the world's greatest democracy incarcerate such large numbers of its population? Particularly the poor and less privileged.

Change will be difficult since there are so many 'vested interests' at stake.

Unions - Jobs would be lost with less jails and prisons.

Private Prisons - Profit. Where is the incentive to lock less people up?

Elected Lawmakers - Running their campaigns on 'Getting tough' on crime and voted into office by a thoughtless public.

The major reasons for our enormous prison population are:

Mental illness is, to a large extent, ignored and not understood by the courts.

People are charged and jailed with felonies that are in many cases minor offenses. They serve their time and are released. This is where the problem really lies. Firstly the released inmate's future, for the next 3 years at least, is going to rely on the attitude and 'character' of the parole officer.

Secondly the parolee now has a felony that is public record. Now try and get a job with a felony record. Try while being poor, not well educated, no family support and out on the street. How are you going to survive? Guess what? There is an 80% chance of you 'messing up', perhaps something as small as stealing a slice of pizza just to get by. You are going back to prison. The cycle is complete and the Criminal Industrial Complex advances. More prisons, more prison guards, more private 'for profit 'prisons.

We have a legal system. But do we have a justice system?

Immigration & Social Security

By listening to radio talk show hosts and watching the 'talking head' pundits on TV you will be fed a very one sided view relating to the great immigration debate.
First let me state that I am an immigrant who had to go through all the legal 'hoops' to obtain first a visa and then US citizenship.
As someone who was in the position to employ workers - I was confronted with an interesting situation. Jaime applied for the position of a warehouse worker. According to the Federal employment requirements he needed two forms of identification. One from column A and then one from column B or C. So he had what looked like a green card and a social security card and number. He was one of our better workers, never missed a days work, after a couple of weeks he purchased a bicycle to get to work on. A few months later he was the proud owner of a small car.
Then we decided to put all our employees on a 401k plan - Guess what? The insurance company ran a check and Jaime had a forged Social Security card & number.
To comply with the law I then had to let Jaime go.
But remember for well over a year he was paying into Social Security, medical and the other mandatory pay role deductions. So his contribution was going into the Social Security coffers without Jaime ever receiving any benefits.
Unfortunately this issue has been so misrepresented by partisan hacks and commentators who have no real knowledge - but the one thing they can do is talk!
Do not get me wrong, I am not pro illegal immigration, but the situation has been allowed to get so out of control I am not not sure how it will ever be fixed. But the one thing that should happen now is that the existing laws should be applied to all potential immigrants.
The 'witch hunt' that continues to separate families, husbands and wives, parents from their children should cease. The majority of these cases target hard working people who actually do contribute to society.

The USA is Number One.

The per capita US jail and prison population is the highest in the world, in fact 7 times greater than that of Canada. All I read and hear from politicians and justice department officials is: "We need more prisons, we need more money for prisons and prison guards". One would hope and think that somewhere the statistic that 1 in 99 people in America are in jail or prison would trigger some intelligent discussion and raise some questions, but this is obviously not perceived as a problem. Too many vested interests at stake.

What can we deduct from this? Is life here in the US safer than in Canada, by a factor of 7?

One thing is certain, if you are young, underprivileged and cannot afford an attorney, you are 7 times more likely to be thrown in jail in the US than if you were living in Canada.

The social ramifications of this are horrific. The cost to society and social services after a person is released from jail or prison is enormous. Talk to someone who has been incarcerated for what may be a minor felony and ask them how easy it has been to find work. Bearing in mind that they have supposedly paid their debt to society.

It is no longer justice or rehabilitation - It's the US Criminal Justice Industry.

Shooting of Oscar Grant in Oakland

Let's face the facts we are living in a police state. This is nothing more and nothing less than a cold blooded assassination!
Also thank goodness for cell phone cameras. Without the video evidence we all know what the cover-up story would have been. The officer (thug) Johannes Mehserle should be charged with first degree murder, nothing more and nothing less.