New Way To Cut Budget: Release Prisoners

States Facing Budget Trouble Consider Releasing Inmates Early To Save Millions

(AP)  Lawmakers from California to Kentucky are trying to save money with a drastic and potentially dangerous budget-cutting proposal: releasing tens of thousands of convicts from prison, including drug addicts, thieves and even violent criminals.

Officials acknowledge that the idea carries risks, but they say they have no choice because of huge budget gaps brought on by the slumping economy.

"If we don't find a way to better manage the population at the state prison, we will be forced to spend money to expand the state's prison system - money we don't have," said Jeff Neal, a spokesman for Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri.

At least eight states are considering freeing inmates or sending some convicts to rehabilitation programs instead of prison, according to an Associated Press analysis of legislative proposals. If adopted, the early release programs could save an estimated $450 million in California and Kentucky alone.

A Rhode Island proposal would allow inmates to deduct up to 12 days from their sentence for every month they follow rules and work in prison. Even some violent offenders would be eligible but not those serving life sentences.

A plan in Mississippi would offer early parole for people convicted of selling marijuana or prescription drugs. New Jersey, South Carolina and Vermont are considering funneling drug-addicted inmates into treatment, which is cheaper than prison.

The prospect of financial savings offers little comfort to Tori-Lynn Heaton, a police officer in a suburb of Providence whose ex-husband went to prison for beating her. He has already finished his prison term, but would have been eligible for early release under the current proposal.

"You're talking about victim safety. You're talking about community member safety," she said. "You can't balance the budget on the backs of victims of crimes."

But prisons "are one of the most expensive parts of the criminal-justice system," said Alison Lawrence, who studies corrections policy for the National Conference of State Legislatures. "That's where they look to first to cut down some of those costs."

Rhode Island Corrections Director A.T. Wall was not sure how many prisoners could be freed early. The payoff for doing so may be relatively small: less than $1 million for the first fiscal year, although that figure would increase over time.

In California, where lawmakers have taken steps to cut a $16 billion budget deficit in half by summer, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed saving $400 million by releasing more than 22,000 inmates who had less than 20 months remaining on their sentences. Violent and sex offenders would not be eligible.

Laying off prison guards and making it more difficult to send parole violators back to state prison would account for part of the savings.

Law enforcement officials and Republican lawmakers immediately criticized Schwarzenegger's proposal, which would apply to car thieves, forgers, drunken drivers and some drug dealers. Some would never serve prison time because the standard sentence for those crimes is 20 months or less.

"To open the prison door and release prisoners back into communities is merely placing a state burden onto local governments and will ultimately jeopardize safety in communities," said Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer, who could see 1,800 inmates released in his area.

In Kentucky, which faces a $1.3 billion deficit, lawmakers approved legislation Wednesday to grant early release to some prisoners. Initial estimates were that the plan could affect as many as 2,000 inmates and save nearly $50 million.

If the governor signs the bill, the exact number of prisoners would be determined by prison officials. Violent convicts and sexual offenders would be exempt.

Gov. Steve Beshear has said Kentucky must review its policies after the state's inmate population jumped 12 percent last year - the largest increase in the nation.

Kentucky spends more than $18,600 to house one inmate for a year, or roughly $51 a day. In California, each inmate costs an average of $46,104 to incarcerate.

The prison budget in Mississippi has nearly tripled since stricter sentencing laws took effect in 1994.

To curb spending, lawmakers have offered a bill to make about 7,000 drug offenders in prison eligible for parole. A second proposal would allow the parole board to release inmates convicted of selling marijuana and prescription drugs after serving just a quarter of their sentences. Currently, they must serve 85 percent of their terms before release.

Michigan is trying to speed up the parole process for about 3,500 inmates who were convicted of nonviolent, nonsexual offenses, or who are seriously ill.

Barbara Sampson, chairwoman of the Michigan Parole Board, said early release often makes sense, especially for low-risk offenders who get help rebuilding their lives.

"Getting that prisoner back to the community so that he can stay connected to his family, getting him back into the work force ... that's a positive thing," she said.

But not everyone is sold on the idea.

"Economics cannot be the engine that drives the train of public safety," said Terrence Jungel, executive director of the Michigan Sheriffs' Association. "Government has no greater responsibility than the protection of its citizens."

[candide777]

This story reminds me that pro gun people go around talking about how felons can''t legally buy guns but they fail to mention that at least one third of the felonies committed each year do not result in a conviction. Bottom line is that there are a LOT of people running around out there who have committed multiple felonies but never been convicted. There is no way to keep them from legally purchasing guns because that would cut into the gun manufacturers'' profits and they won''t stand for that! They won''t rest until every one in the country feels the need to buy a gun, and they''re making that happen by legally arming people who commit felonies but are too smart to get caught.

Censor this one too! ;-)

[speakinup]

Or, we could make them organ donors.

How about we make it mandatory for them to be on tread mills 8 hours a day, so they can generate electricity.

Let''s make that Sheriff in Arizona (Joe Arpaio) in charge of all prisons. He has GREAT ideas about how to make folks not want to go to prison so much that they stay away from crime.

No coffee - there is no nutritional value in it.

Sleep in tents in hot weather - our troops get to do it, so it can''t be cruel or unusual punishment.

No TV except Disney Channel.

And bring back chain gangs. They should earn their way. Hey we could use them to build new jails for minimum security inmates.

He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.

He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. Took away their weights.

If they don''t like it, he tells them, "This ain''t the Ritz-Carlton, if you don''t like it, don''t come back!"

[speakinup]

Joe bought Newt Gingrich''s lecture series on videotape that he pipes into the jails.

When asked by a reporter if he had any lecture series by a Democrat, he replied that a democratic lecture series might explain why a lot of the inmates were in his jails in the first place.

[runningralph]

Large prison farms with manual labor. Highway maintenance and clean-up. Clean and paint public buildings. Clean and paint and maintain the prison facilituies.

[dowjones20k]

Hard to beleive that it costs 18000 to 46000 a year to house an inmate????

California is nuts .. unless it''s mostly wages for corrections officers ... but I doubt it ... take out the A/C ... the TV''s everything that all the do gooders advocated for ..

put these criminals on road crews or something ...

use to be that if you did the crime you did the time ..

now we have a bunch of coddled prisoners who get free schooling etc. .... Here in MA, we have a judge who feels a man who murdered his wife should be allowed to have a *** change at the taxpayers expense !!!

We have lost our minds and our way !!!!

Pitiful !!!

Put the all in the desert and let them kill each other !!

Now that would be some urban renewal !!

[dan9111]

Put the all in the desert and let them kill each other !!

Now that would be some urban renewal !!

Posted by dowjones20k

OK, you should go there first. You sound very enthusiastic about it.

[barbaraf4]

Why not do away with the court system? We can abolish all laws and all penalties. We can put the criminals in charge. That is what we are coming down to.

[eaglesong]

Not all prisoners who are termed "violent" should be considered violent. I happen to be married to a man who due to his crime is considered "violent", yet he has done more to help rehabilitate other prisoners, the length of his sentence is ludicrous, less time is given to a person for manslaughter than what he was given. Let''s take a look at the prison system itself, and some prisoners want to return to the outside world and be with their families and make a positive input in society.

[element51]

This is, indeed, a difficult issue to tackle. There is no doubt that we have a terrible problem with our prison system and something must be done. But what? One thing that might be considered is to take a better look at the legalization on marajuana. While I am not suggesting that drugs are a good thing, I honestly feel that compared side by side alcohol is by far more dangerous to society than marajuana. If marajuana was regulated and taxed and treated more or less like alcohol it would create more space in prisons and generate lots of tax dollars. Given the fact that people are going to use pot anyway and that it covers the entire spectrum of society why not get control of it and put the criminal element out of the pot business? Those who think that adding one more drug is a bad move should realize that it''s already here. This is just a thought and posted only to solicit comments.

[kansas1946]

To open the prison door and release prisoners back into communities is merely placing a state burden onto local governments and will ultimately jeopardize safety in communities," said Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer, who could see 1,800 inmates released in his area.
*************************************************

Oh, the usual hysteria. Releasing non-violent offenders isn''t going to jeopardize anyone''s safety. Non-violent offenders probably shouldn''t be in jail in the first place. Can''t anyone come up with any creative solutions instead of jail. Non-violent drug offenders should never be in prison, but that is half the prison population. Americans are just goofy.

[andrew_693]

I have an idea, let''s bring back those that are wasting our money in Iraq and you will see how all the sudden there aren''t budgetary problems and we don''t have to release drug dealers into the streets.

[element51]

What about the use of those ankle bracelet things that they sometimes use on drunk drivers? Confine non violent offenders in their own home and let them feed themselves. If they violate then take them back to court and impose more time. These things are easily monitored and you could add a GPS so the prisoner could be located easily if they left the area that they were confined to. Just another suggestion to consider. Let their family pay for feeding and housing them at home.

[ringading3]

Prisoners don''t vote. Welfare dependents vote. Which ones do the politicians serve?

[harv1981]

More devestation from the "war on drugs." Why doesn''t "my body my choice" mean more than the simple right to slaughter babies. Its time to stop outlawing goose liver, tobacco, home schooling, *** for pay or for play. Its time to start minding our own business, like raising our kids, living within our means, and working for a living.

[sgtrds]

If we weren''t wasting so much money on Bush''s war we could have plenty of programs to keep people out of prison in the first place. The GOP talks like investors, but they constantly ignore the fact that investment in pre-school programs and quality public schools and trade schools pay back a huge dividend of a lower crime rate and fewer prison or welfare costs. investing in kids is a 1000% return investment! They are pennywise and pound STUPID!

[gce65]

So don''t release violent offenders early!

But clean out all the mandatory minimum drug offenders and petty criminals who were locked up for much longer than they should have been because of a Republican "lock ''em all up" mentality.

We criticize China and other countries for the size of their prison populations all the time, but America has the largest prison population in the world and we only have one-fifth as many people as China. And we lead the world in executions.

[juwboy]

This is a predicted consequence of California''s "Three Strikes and Your Out" law which was passed by the state''s voters through the initiative process 10-15 years ago.

At the time, opponents said that weren''t enough prisons to implement the law and that the costs would be tremendous.

[dsr57]

Put the all in the desert and let them kill each other !!

Now that would be some urban renewal !!

Posted by dowjones20k
--------------------------------------------------

You could make it pay per view. That would generate some income. You could make a cool TV series out of it.

[b-easy63]

Great. Add mayhem and a group of anarchist, prison ruined thugs to our already devastated economy and crippled social system.

We have retards for leaders. In the beginning of the worst recession since the Depression, why not add 12 to 20 million illegal aliens to compete with the laid off American worker for jobs, then hey, for kicks, why not throw in some verified criminals, who are already tainted by the perverted lifestyles of prison....

They should just throw in all the plagues of Egypt and be done with it.

When Wright said "God---*** America" we didn''t realize the damning would come from our own government to do us in.

We should fire the lot of them--maybe even jail them too. Mayhem and Chaos is coming--and *** coming with them.

[b-easy63]

Prisoners don''''t vote. Welfare dependents vote. Which ones do the politicians serve?

Posted by RingADing3 at 11:41 PM : Apr 03, 2008


In most states, prisoners can get a special dispensation and be allowed to vote--even with felony convictions. But what good is a vote--when they are busy preying on the rest of us. Then the idiots will be trying to capture most of them back and whine (like they did with the stupid Iraq war) that they just never knew this would happen.

Well, the rest of us with just a smidge of common sense sure in the fvck knew this would bring huge trouble.

Guess they want it to get so bad that we BEG to pay higher taxes to pay for this.

[b-easy63]

here is no way to keep them from legally purchasing guns because that would cut into the gun manufacturers'''' profits and they won''''t stand for that! They won''''t rest until every one in the country feels the need to buy a gun, and they''''re making that happen by legally arming people who commit felonies but are too smart to get caught.

Censor this one too! ;-)

Posted by Candide777 at 06:39 PM : Apr 03, 2008


Then again, if a felon wants a gun, they don''t have to legally purchase them. They can buy them at almost any urban street corner, flea market, auction, and private sale--often for a lot less than a dealer and most usually get their weapons that way.

New guns are for aficionados, collectors, hunters, and the recently unhinged. Many criminals can offer and know where to buy guns for as little as 20.00. I knew a guy who sold guns out of his car trunk. Of course, all of his guns had sordid and criminal histories--but then again, so did most of his customers.

Legal laws for guns do not deter gun buying or using, they just deter the purchase by law abiding people--criminals still buy and sell--on their own terms and they still use them. There are more guns in circulation (that are old and have been around for years) than the government could possibly know. And an old gun or antique can kill you just as dead as the new models.

[b-easy63]

He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.

He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. Took away their weights.

If they don''''t like it, he tells them, "This ain''''t the Ritz-Carlton, if you don''''t like it, don''''t come back!"

Posted by speakinup at 06:53 PM : Apr 03, 2008


Then again, if we kill them all (and quickly with few to no appeals)--society''s worries would all be over and we''d have no repeat offenders or need for prison budgets....(sarcasm)

[anonbene]

If you are an elected official in this country that has an interest in what to do with soon to be ex offenders contact The Benefactor Project.com

[b-easy63]

It truly takes a bleeding heart Democrat to embrace the idea of releasing prisoners early from jail. Definitely, such an act will increase crime and that, coupled with no jobs will ensure a crime wave of the likes we have never seen. Few seem to know, understand, realize or care that people who go to prison do NOT come back out the same. Prison makes for anarchists and predators. It does not matter what they went in for, to survive, they learn to lie, steal, exploit, pimp, rape, and even murder or aid stronger prisoners who do those things. They still engage in drug trafficking, extortion, bribery, gambling--you name it. And even the softest of prison inmate cannot help but see ordinary citizens as soft meat and prey.

Like our military, they are in their own world and see the rest of us as ignorant to this or the games they play...and now they want to unleash millions on us wholesale, they with their networks inside and outside the prison, with their games and gangs and grudges and agendas to settle--and I love the "let''s legalize drug crowd.

[b-easy63]

We could also decriminalize some drug possession violations.

Posted by Policrypt at 06:38 PM : Apr 03, 2008



Surely by now, you realize that drugs are not really a victimless crime? Even if the party who partakes does it for their own fun, they finance a vast network of underground criminal activity that is NOT victimless. Like prostitution, murder, extortion, numbers running, stealing, etc. Nothing is done in a vacuum and for everything there is a cause and effect. The net effect of releasing so many into a society that cannot readily assimilate is asking for a nightmare. The problem with idealism is that it seldom truly understands, entertains or considers the actual reality. The reality is, that drugs DO finance and are part and parcel of a criminal lifestyle. From the use of some to rape, kidnap, etc, to some used to enhance violence, to the fighting over of turf, to the forcing of people into prostitution or porno it is a very lucrative business and trandscends the yuppies who just go to the hood for some joints or some blow.

[b-easy63]

Posted by SgtRDS at 01:50 AM : Apr 04, 2008


Exactly what programs do you think would decrease most criminality? I grew up in the hood for part of my childhood. *(11-17) People who do most crimes do NOT want to work at regular jobs. It is not because they can''t get jobs or that they are not educated. Many are very, very smart. What happens in certain environments (like ghettoes) is that a certain kind of personality embraces the idea of predating on others.

They do not just do it for money. For many types of crime (like extortion, blackmail, intimidation, strong arm, etc) it is about power also. Such people do NOT want to work at McDonalds or follow the society track to making money slowly. They want it all and they want it all now. They sell drugs because slanging pays 500.00 to 3 or 4K a week and Mickey D''s does not and neither does being an accountant.

[b-easy63]

They want your tv or a big screen tv? They either steal yours or set up a ring and have them stolen and fenced from Sears or somewhere else. Many in lives of crime LOVE that life, especially if they are running others. This idea that criminals are just misunderstood poor souls with bad childhoods and no opportunities is only partially true. Many do have bad childhoods, but short of removing them from their homes, their is no government programs to change home living on a massive scale or retrain people on raising their kids. They like the pace and the scheming and the victimizing of others (because it proves they are toppers) Many people LOVE being criminals and think they are smarter, superior and stronger than the rest of society. They fail to realize they are not so smart, or they would not keep getting caught. You don''t fix that with a government program nor can you fix the idea that the American mentality glamorizes thugs. I have a LOT of friends who are either imprisoned or are dead. My best friend is serving time for murder. I knew her since I was 11, of the maybe 300 kids I knew from that town; over 75% have been to prison at least once and many of my friends are now dead. But do, keep thinking gov."programs" fixes things. It may help 10 or 20 out of 2000, but those 10 or 20 are probably not the ones you ever had to worry about in the first place.

[b-easy63]

I have a relative with an IQ of over 180. He''s brilliant. He''s also a felon and a drug user. He''s in his 60s. On one of the occasions when he was not in prison, I asked him if he regretted his life choices. He stared me straight in the eye and said "NO". I asked him why--and he said--that is just the way he was. He said that when he was young and got in trouble for stealing, he did not think about not doing wrong to stay out of trouble--he said his goal was to do stuff and not get caught. When I pointed out that he had been caught several times (he''d been in prison at least twice and jail at least 5 or 6 times) he laughed and said, that was just a few times out of his life--but that as a youth he probably committed at least a crime a day, from selling drugs to pimping women to forging checks, etc. He insisted that there were 2 kinds of people in the world--predators and victims, he told me that I was a victim, but that he, was a predator. They have no government programs to help someone like that--and yes--he has several college degrees but his first love is dope and the lifestyle around it. You can''t change or help a person with a mindset like that. He was a gorgeous guy too--bet it was not nice for him in Prison. Then again, he is sooo vicious--maybe he was still a predator, inside. He would probably be one of the ones who got released, and he still sees civvies as fresh meat.

[b-easy63]

Oh, the usual hysteria. Releasing non-violent offenders isn''''t going to jeopardize anyone''''s safety.
Posted by kansas1946 at 10:50 PM : Apr 03, 2008


Grow up!! *** do you know about nonviolent offenders? Remember the 2 that raped and murdered that woman and her 2 daughters in Conn and then set their house on fire, leaving the beat up dad in the basement last year? They were caught running down the street. Neither were violent offenders, they were petty thieves. Do you think purse snatchers or drug offenders live in a segregated wing in prison? If they are not violent when they went in, they usually are or are inured to it when they come out. It is not difficult to graduate from just being a dope smoker caught with a few bags to other crimes, and they also associate with more violent people. Many (at least 12) of my former schoolmates have been murdered by former inmates who came back to settle a score or who killed them for failing to cooperate. One of them was murdered in his barbershop, the guy also killed a patron and seriously wounded another before leaving. He later said he wanted to leave no witnesses. the reason? Who knows? He claimed my friend was a snitch, But he was murdered when he returned to prison. Endless cycle--all coming to a town near you.

[kmccliment]

I''ve seen this before in a county where I used to live. It took just over a month for the released prisoners to find out there is no job out there for law abiding citizens let alone a felon. The crime jumped something around 30%. This is a bad idea. There is no price tag on safety of the public! Start cutting costs somewhere else. Auction off all take home vehicles. And cut out parking reimbursements to government employees.

[b-easy63]

Drug deals gone awry:

1. 1977, JS beat to death by the Q brothers, he did not pay up for owing money for drugs

2. KE, girl (mid 1980s) tried to sell Tide as cocaine, they took her out to field and shot her in the back of the head, she survived. Crawled to farmhouse--bullet still at base of her skull

3. KB, (1990s) murdered, drug deal gone bad

4. CY, he and patron murdered by former inmate. CY orig went to jail for possession of Cocaine. Patron was just getting his hair cut

5. EG, drug deal gone bad. he was a petty thief (1980s) had both hands cut off by other dealers, later stabbed to death by girlfriend

6. CT--murdered, drug deal gone bad (1990s)

7. GT brother of CT, murdered, drug deal gone bad

8. WC, contracted AIDs in Prison, died (in prison for poss. of drugs)

9. AP, sent to prison at 19 for drug poss. turned in prison (raped) came out, shot and killed 2 former tormentors, returned to prison, where he was murdered

10 CS, purse snatcher, later wife beater, child beater, spent 80% of adult and juvenile life in prison

11. ZT, went to jail for possession, got out, raped his own sister at knife point, said he was taking payment for drugs, now back in --sister is crazy now

Just a few that I know, from a small town of less than 50K . If those who are not dead get out--run from them, just because they went to jail for drugs or other nonviolent crime, does not mean they will not hurt you, if you get in their way.

[b-easy63]

I''''ve seen this before in a county where I used to live. It took just over a month for the released prisoners to find out there is no job out there for law abiding citizens let alone a felon. The crime jumped something around 30%. This is a bad idea. There is no price tag on safety of the public! Start cutting costs somewhere else. Auction off all take home vehicles. And cut out parking reimbursements to government employees.

Posted by kmccliment at 07:41 AM : Apr 04, 2008


Exactly!! If they do this, the government officials should lose their jobs also, for being negligent and not thinking it through!!!

[kmccliment]

Non violent offenders covers crime such as; auto theft, petty theft, burglary. Now if a person finds his property being stolen or broken into can you see it turning violent pretty quickly.

[b-easy63]

A lot of non violent crimes can also turn violent if the victim resists. I know of 2 cases of purse snatching where an old woman was stomped and suffered broken ribs and a crushed pelvis, because she did not immediately let go of her purse. According to the perp who was only known as a purse snatcher: "If the ***** did not want to get hurt, she should have let go of the money"

Another case, a man brained his own mother with a skillet and knocked her eye out of her head. The reason? She refused to give him money for drugs. They were able to pop her eye back in. Prior to that, he only had a history for shop lifting. Those who speak of nonviolent criminals being okay and harmless or drug users being harmless, realize there is far more to dealing and using drugs then their occasional drive into a bar or neighborhood for a few joints to take back to the suburbs, there is another level with lots of violence, more drugs and death and they are just a very small cog in the big wheel.

[erichsh]

They have no government programs to help someone like that--and yes--he has several college degrees but his first love is dope and the lifestyle around it.

Posted by b-easy63

b-easy63 knows exactly what he''s talking about. Until your family''s life is scrambled by a relative drug user, I hope the rest of you don''t go lecturing guys like b-easy63 on how cruel America is, or how unfair the prison system is, yadayada. "Non-violent" merely means someones parents don''t get stabbed to death while their hearts are broken, and their life savings robbed or pisssed away, bailing out a low-life adult child like the type that b-easy63 speaks of.

[bgwinnett]

With this the streets in America are going to look even more like a GTA game.

[b-easy63]

Drug using and selling is never victimless, no matter how much you think your copping a joint and smoking it hurts no one. Between the time you get in your car, drive somewhere and make a score, there may be a lot of dead bodies and harmed people. Some of those who sell drugs are often also involved in selling women, and children for sexxx.
It is naive to think , just because you feel there is no criminal activity or violence in drug use--that there really is none.
It is as naive as a frog thinking the pond he lives in is the only body of water, and the creatures in his pond, are the only kind in the world to live in water--it demands that a person keeps their eye on a very self centered picture and negates a larger story.

The other naivety thinks that horrible crimes mostly happen in larger cities. I live in the midwest--plenty of horrible crimes, right here. In 2005, KC had the highest murder rate in the US. No criminal is violent, until he is, but as a criminal--he has less inhibitions to being violent than a person who has not committed a crime and respects society''s rules.

[b-easy63]

Some harass or kill strippers or others, they also intimidate and make others sell for them. They also can be narcs. Cops also harass and intimidate and coerce former prisoners into committing crimes --so they can set others up. Once a person is in the system, they can be used by all sides. The joint you smoke or ecstasy you may take is just a tiny part of this--and it may not matter to you--but what comes around, goes around, and comes back around.


FYI--I am a girl. And my crazy relative is over 60 now and he still is unrepentant, as far as I know (haven''t seen him in about 25 years) but my mom said "same ol, same ol"

[kmccliment]

Lets remember too. The DA may have accepted a plea from a violent crime to a non violent crime. Or the perp that has only been convicted of non violent crimes just hasnt been caught or tied to a violent crime yet.

[bozworth4]

Be prepaired!!!!

[b-easy63]

Just another insight: when my crazy relative was 9, he tried to sell his 11 year old sister to a group of men on the corner who were looking for some "hot puzzy" they said they would give him a treat if he could find some and he said he knew such a girl. Lucky for her, they were not pedophiles. They reprimanded her brother and told him they wanted a real woman not a little girl with no ****.

(He took his sister over to the men). When she turned on him for trying to pimp her out, he said "Aw...I was going to give you some of my treat..." such is the mentality of this person and though he could be entertaining, I noticed, that no matter where he went, when he came into our home or we saw him out and about, he was constantly scoping out everyone around him, sizing them up, looking for exits and watching for "game" He said, stuff is happening all around us all the time, and either you are aware and a player of the game or you will, in time be a victim of the game.

I partially credit him with making me become very observant of others and for watching my back--even in cases of relatives (like him) being nearby. He''d point out all kinds of actions and behavior, that we really did not notice before.

[tomanyt]

Now who can say they didn''t see this coming. This is a product of our lawmakers zero tolerance policies. What goes around comes around.

[mwhc1]

In California, each inmate costs an average of $46,104 to incarcerate.

$46,104?!?!?!?!? Most people is this country live on far less than this - taking care of a family too! I think we''ve found the issue here. Just why does it cost $46,104 a year to put someone in a cell??? How bout we outsource prisons. Send these guys to China! Now that would be a deterent.

[b-easy63]

Now the COST of all these feel good do nothing laws has become to great for taxpayers to bear? If they do not dump prisoners on the streets then that means they will have to lay off their neices and nephews from the state dole and we can''''t have that....lol

Anarchy in the USSA? BRING IT ON =)

Posted by didnt_inhale at 08:28 AM : Apr 04, 2008


Right, then when all helllll breaks loose, they will quote some new, huge outrageous figure we all will have to pay to round them all up again (plus some more). They figure when we get desperate enough, we''ll pay whatever they say, just to feel safe.

It''s called a protection racket when criminals do it--law enforcement when they do it. Look for them to quote the necessity for even higher numbers of officers to fix the new problem they created in the first place.

[b-easy63]

n California, each inmate costs an average of $46,104 to incarcerate.

$46,104?!?!?!?!? Most people is this country live on far less than this - taking care of a family too! I think we''''ve found the issue here. Just why does it cost $46,104 a year to put someone in a cell??? How bout we outsource prisons. Send these guys to China! Now that would be a deterent.

Posted by mwhc1 at 08:35 AM : Apr 04, 2008


LOL China does not need extra people. If we sent them, they''d probably send them all back, ground up as dog food for our pets, then when we asked where they were (when the sentences were up) they would either say they got more time, or they got lost in the shuffle of over a billion people.

[oleander8]

"Getting that prisoner back to the community so that he can stay connected to his family, getting him back into the work force ... that''s a positive thing," she said."

What do you think that criminal is going to do when he finds there are no jobs?

[kaiyo4u]

Do you really want to bring your country back into your control? Do you really want the legislators to listen to you?
Then each and every person should file exempt on their W-2 forms and for the self employed, don''t pay your quarterlies.
When they realize we are serious, maybe the government will listen to us.

[tomanyt]

b-easy63...Drug using and selling is never victimless, no matter how much you think your copping a joint and smoking it hurts no one.
No different than alcohol, yet alcohol is legal.

[neonink]

Fine $$$$ simple lawbreakers.

Jail the horrendous crimes.

And Stop the insanity to the repeat murderers and just end it for them.

How simple is that?

[quetzal0666]

change state laws to be more liberal as in Europe,
Allow People up to a quarter ounce of legal marijuana for personal use, and legalise a few other things,
as it stands there are people encarcerated for nothing more than having a half smoked joint in their car. or a few fatties in the glove box,
i mean seriously.....