-Caveat Lector- http://www.nytimes.com/library/opinion/lewis/122199lewi.html > December 21, 1999 > > AT HOME ABROAD / By ANTHONY LEWIS > > Punishing the Country > > - [A] s we enter the new millennium, the population of > America's prisons and jails is approaching two > million. It will pass that mark, according to the > Justice Policy Institute in Washington, around Feb. 15. > > In the entire world about eight million people are > incarcerated, so a quarter of them are in this country. > > The number of prisoners has been growing at an > extraordinary pace, up 70 percent in the last 10 years. > We have overtaken Russia for the honor of having the > world's highest incarceration rate. > > All this has a profound social cost. Since 1995 the > states have spent more on prison than on university > construction. Operating prisons in the year 2000 will > cost about $40 billion. > > And of course it is not just the money. Two-thirds of > the prisoners are there for nonviolent offenses. > Chances are good that by the time they are released -- > after sentences that are among the longest anywhere -- > they will be thoroughly brutalized. > > The figures are so stunning that even some experts > known for taking a hard line on crime think it is time > for a reappraisal of criminal justice policies. One is > Prof. John J. DiIulio Jr. of Princeton. He summed up > his view in The Wall Street Journal in March under the > headline "Two Million Prisoners Are Enough." > > "The value of imprisonment is a portrait in the law of > rapidly diminishing returns," Professor DiIulio said. > He noted that correctional costs were squeezing money > for policing. He urged officials everywhere to maintain > gains in public safety "while keeping the prison > population around two million and even aiming to reduce > it over the next decade." > > To that end he suggested, first, repealing > mandatory-minimum drug sentencing laws. Since 1973 the > Rockefeller drug laws in New York State have imposed > fixed terms running from 15 years to life for all kinds > of offenses. Federal laws also include many mandatory > minimums. > > The result of fixed sentences is to put hundreds of > thousands of nonviolent drug offenders away for many > years, at great cost to them and to us. About a quarter > of those in American prisons and jails are drug > violators, according to the Justice Policy Institute. > Their number has gone up sevenfold in the last 20 > years. > > Professor DiIulio called for the release of nonviolent > offenders imprisoned only for drug violations. He also > urged that drug treatment be required for users, in > prison and afterward. > > Legislation that requires extremely long sentences for > drug and some other crimes is a political phenomenon of > the last 25 years or so. Few politicians, state or > national, have been willing to challenge the mantra of > "toughness on crime" -- willing to look at the harsh > consequences of such rigidity, human and societal. > > Mandatory-minimum sentences seem to me to reflect the > delusion that eliminating the element of judgment will > make the criminal justice system work better. Absolute > rules assure certainty. But they also assure injustice. > > Leaving too much discretion to judges risks uneven > sentences. Leaving none produces equally harsh > sentences for situations and individuals that demand > different treatment. The same delusion mars the 1996 > Immigration Act, with its requirement of automatic > deportation for minor crimes. > > The other distinctive feature of criminal justice in > the United States is capital punishment. All other > Western countries have given it up as an atavistic > barbarity. It continues here despite a growing number > of releases of death-row prisoners after last-minute > proof of their innocence. > > Study after study has shown that executions do not > deter further murders. Yet George W. Bush has defended > the death penalty on the ground that it "will save > other innocent lives." > > As governor of Texas, Mr. Bush has presided over 113 > executions, more than any other governor in modern > times. A compelling Boston Globe story by John Aloysius > Farrell pointed out that in the next five weeks > Governor Bush must deal with five more scheduled > deaths, one of a prisoner with a mental age of 7, two > others who committed their crimes as juveniles. > > Mr. Bush's action in those cases, and the public > reaction, will tell much about his and our humanity. > ------------------------------------------------------- > DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. 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