Drug Laws
Also Rod Watson takes on the Drug Laws in NYS for 2 reasons;
One the laws target Minorities. 90% of the people in NYS who are locked up for non-violent possessions charges are black or Hispanic, though whites use drugs just as much. Here's a statistic "blacks made up 53 percent of drug offenders in state prisons nationwide, while comprising only 13 percent of the population."
Second reason is the waste of money. "it costs $45,000 to $50,000 to lock someone up for a year. That compares with about $30,000 for residential drug treatment, and about $14,000 for outpatient treatment."
I'm glad we're getting some sane discussion on this issue. In the past just questioning the drug laws could make people label you some sort of self centered hedonist, who values nothing except being in a drunken stupor, and doesn't care about somebody's children.. or something like that. It's a ridiculously simple and shortsighted argument, but a popular one that tends to stop rational discussion.
Least Compotent Criminals .or. Not My Neighbor Anymore
Another Article in the news is about an idiot in South Buffalo who used to run the Moose Lodge on my corner. Apparently he fired bullets into a house because the guy inside was going to testify against him about breaking a somebody's nose in a bar fight. So instead of an assault charge, now this moron has felony witness intimidation, reckless endangerment, illegal possession of a firearm, and a host of other stuff. And he's unemployed, cause he was booted from the moose lodge. So good riddance to him. But it does make me wish that our Prisons were better at being 'correctional' facilities.
Updated......
One Bit of National News relating to the AIG bonuses and the public uproar they are causing.
The public has a right to be pissed. We definitely talked about this issue when the stimulus was being discussed a month ago, and as far back as the election, "Golden Parachutes" was the term being used them. So it should be no surprise that the revelation of these bonuses and others in the industry has caused an uproar. So now some people are trying to use this anger in a political way. I saw Cantor on the TV trying to say "this is exactly the reason why no republicans voted for it". Personally I do think people should have had time to read the bill before voting on it. not that I think much would have changed.
Anyway people are looking for some scapegoats and political windfall from this. So I wanted to dig a little deeper. Chris Dodd (D) chair of the senate banking committee, has been named as a culprit. I looked into it a bit, and I don't think he deserves any of the blame. You can see a video here
it's on Huffington post, but the pest part is the 8 minute CNN interview where he sets the record straight. After reading a little more about this, I think you can fairly blame Timothy Geitner for loosening the restrictions. And maybe Lawrence Summers a bit though he technically doesn't have as much power. But I think Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, and Obama are fine. They all wanted a tougher bill, and they seemed compelled to change things in the compromise. I never really liked Geitner, and there was some article a month back, in Politico I think, about him getting heat, getting laughed at, and argued with, when he was pushing the market's interests in a meeting where most people were most concerned about taxpayers. I think Geitner got what he thought was best, and not it's bitten us all in the ass.
I think a lot of it is a Race/Class thing. Not all drug dealers are rich. Hey if you get busted and they take the drugs and the money how do you get a good lawyer? I think that is a big factor. I also think that there is more crime in the areas that are poor so that brings in more law enforcement. I think it is a good idea to make nonviolent criminals do less time. However I (the guy who wants it all legal) Do have a problem. How can you tell if the dealer is in a gang or not? Just because he is in a gang doesn't mean he is shooting or beating people up. So how does one figure this part out.
In terms of the bonuses. I thought I saw on line that a New Law just got passed. I didn't read all the details. Anyone who got a bonus from a company that got a bailout and makes over $250,000 will be taxed at 90%. With out knowing all the details that sounds good to me.
I totally agree with you about the need to reform the law. Clearly it is another bad example of government social engineering. It costs us too much, it doesn't solve the underlying issue, and it overcrowds our prisons. For these reasons alone it is obvious that reform is necessary.
I suspect that the race issue has more to do with enforcement of the law. Are white suburban hustlers going to be as likely to be prosecuted? My guess is no. While that is in no way a statement about the law on its own, and it is silly to try to equitably distribute jail time across all races based on percentage of population, what it does tell me is that if the law can't be properly enforced, it's damned useless and should be scrapped on principle.
i have mixed feelings on the drug laws, but I do have a friend in town who served 10 years for cocaine possession... and now works in law firm and is one of the most successful people I know.