BISweet - the reason we have so many people and such a large percentage of the population behind bars is that about 40 years ago we went all 'law and ordery' and decided:
1. That minimum sentencing guidelines were a good idea, and took all discretion out of the hands of judges.
2. Created 'three-strike' laws that put people away for life for in many cases pretty minor offenses.
3. Created a 'war on drugs' that decided that long prison stretches were a good thing for non-violent criminals, and pot was the same type of drug as heroin, and that rehabilitation and addiction management was just a wasted effort, and that recreational quantities were felony offenses.
4. Supported a policing change that escalated minor problems with overreaction, and created a bureaucratic management of police and a patrol car mentality instead of a community based system. And have continued by militarizing police forces in part because we seem to be unable to restrict possession of military grade weaponry in the general population.
5. In effect criminalized poverty and minorities and created a two tier justice system by underfunding court appointed lawyering, and treating wealthy/white/suburban crimes differently from others.
6. Privatized prison systems turning them into corporate profit centers with an ever expanding need for 'clients', and a strong lobbying arm to insure the same, and a strong financial incentive to promote recidivism.
I'm sure I have missed a few in that list, but ...
Very little of the prison population has anything to do with over-reaction to people settling minor issues without involving the law. Civil case loads perhaps, but not prison population.
(Golly, I am looking forward to the season and having lots of basketball to discuss!

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