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Study: All non-violent criminals jailed on minor drug offence should be released

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Re: Study: All non-violent criminals jailed on minor drug offence should be released

#71

Post by ed25519FUUU »

greedo wrote: post #52
ed25519FUUU wrote: post #38

Kind of a funny moment in time we live in where some are clamoring to put people in jail for tweets/hate speech/mean words while simultaneously advocating for lower jail populations.

Incitement to riot/insurrection isn't "mean words."

Were you on twitter at all during any of the protests of last summer? Vague “incitement of riot” charges are going to be used against a whole lot of anti-establishment groups that were active during that time (and now).

If you think it stops at MAGA you are deceived.

Re: Study: All non-violent criminals jailed on minor drug offence should be released

#72

Post by greatgirl »

avsteele wrote: post #60
avsteele wrote: post #58

While I agree with the conclusion. People tend to overestimate the fraction of people incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses. It is only ~15% https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2020.html

And I'm assuming they mean incarcerated (jail+prison) and not just 'jail'. Most of the people in jail are awaiting trial, people in prison have been convicted.

> Only 2% of federal criminal defendants go to trial, and most who do are found guilty

From pew research

Re: Study: All non-violent criminals jailed on minor drug offence should be released

#73

Post by coffeemaniac »

avsteele wrote: post #58

While I agree with the conclusion. People tend to overestimate the fraction of people incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses. It is only ~15% https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2020.html

15% of the US prison population is a huge number of people.

Re: Study: All non-violent criminals jailed on minor drug offence should be released

#74

Post by neogodless »

elric wrote: post #57
neogodless wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not disagreeing on incentive but for clarification... My understanding would be that freeing non-violent criminals would be a matter of legislation and the court system. The choice would not be up to the prison. But do you think the prisons influence the legislation (or, horrifically, the judicial system)? To say that it's a the root cause is to say that for-profit prisons drive legislation on drugs, but I do not bel…

Looking at the history of slavery and prison labour in the US, I'm not sure I share your optimism. Many new (and victimless) crimes were introduced after slavery was abolished, and slavery was never abolished in prisons. Locking someone up for "vagrancy" and then forcing them to work for you does sound an awful lot like slavery.

I'm not sure what you are disagreeing with. Prisons and prison labor existing because of racism is what you're arguing, and I didn't say anything to disagree with it. But root cause here is the same, assuming that laws against drug use are intended to catch more non-whites than whites.

Re: Study: All non-violent criminals jailed on minor drug offence should be released

#75

Post by cabaalis »

aaomidi wrote: post #54
cubano wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The problem after that is the stigma that follows you around forever. Tell me about it. Between my prison "stigma" and the discriminatory ageism that is very prevalent in the industry, and even though I have 30 years professional programming experience, I am currently finding it impossible to find any work. Can someone please tell me...what am I supposed to do at age 55? Find a new "career"...doing what? I know ple…

The call to end prisons, police funding, and prison funding is partially to solve this exact problem. I don't think ANYONE should be able to request a federal background check. I don't think background checks should be allowed for employment or housing. Same as credit checks. A person is either safe enough to be in society, or not. There should NEVER be an in between state. And before you say anything: 1. Yes I am fi…

I think this black and white view is how the constitution was written, and in boolean logic would be how it is designed. But reality has many shades of grey.

Would you trust your personal banking to an institution with history of leaking/mishandling/selling everything about you, or losing records of your balance?

Would you trust your health information to a doctor with previous history of kickbacks, malpractice, lax HIPAA compliance?

Re: Study: All non-violent criminals jailed on minor drug offence should be released

#76

Post by mirkules »

BikiniPrince wrote: post #43
cubano wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The problem after that is the stigma that follows you around forever. Tell me about it. Between my prison "stigma" and the discriminatory ageism that is very prevalent in the industry, and even though I have 30 years professional programming experience, I am currently finding it impossible to find any work. Can someone please tell me...what am I supposed to do at age 55? Find a new "career"...doing what? I know ple…

I’m getting out of tech by 55. Maybe I won’t go insane in a smaller shop, but watching everyone without experience commit the same atrocities over and over is like hell. After a remodel I learned how lucrative cabinet makers have it. I started building my wood working shop a while ago and at some I’ll transition to that. I’ve got some growing and I have a lucrative position, but this battery is about depleted.

Thank you for mentioning the insanity of perpetually and badly reinventing the wheel.

I’m in my 40s now, and I realized last year I’m utterly burned out. The passion for programming is just gone. I get home from work now and the last thing I want to do is look at code again. My garage is filled with Arduino projects I can’t bring myself to finish or throw out.

Unlike you, I haven’t found another career path, but I did find solace in making music. At least it is much more permanent than software and something I can share with my kids.

Art, in general, survives time, whereas it has become apparent that software does not.

Re: Study: All non-violent criminals jailed on minor drug offence should be released

#78

Post by gowld »

rwmurrayVT wrote: post #7

The #1 issue in the USA beyond simple conviction and incarceration is rehabilitation. At the federal level, where I have personal experience, it seems like it's entirely retribution instead of rehabilitation. I was in a federal prison camp and it is primarily an exercise in leisure. The entire day was composed of well.. nothing. If you like reading, fresh air, and exercise you're in luck. If you like alcohol, drugs,…

Since it's HN, to clarify: When you write "programming", do you mean "writing software", "rehabilition activities", or both?

Re: Study: All non-violent criminals jailed on minor drug offence should be released

#79

Post by greatgirl »

iridium_core wrote: post #10

Just legalise all drugs and let the free market decide. We could create innovative new substances which are safer and less socially damaging, compared to the plants and fermented liquids we happen to have stumbled upon millenia ago.

I am for legalising drugs if the evidence suggests it works. I'm not for legalising drugs because of some free market ideology.

Re: Study: All non-violent criminals jailed on minor drug offence should be released

#80

Post by tyingq »

rwmurrayVT wrote: post #7

The #1 issue in the USA beyond simple conviction and incarceration is rehabilitation. At the federal level, where I have personal experience, it seems like it's entirely retribution instead of rehabilitation. I was in a federal prison camp and it is primarily an exercise in leisure. The entire day was composed of well.. nothing. If you like reading, fresh air, and exercise you're in luck. If you like alcohol, drugs,…

"The problem after that is the stigma that follows you around forever."

This is worse than it used to be, as companies of any size can now pull not just convictions, but arrests as well. And not just felonies, but misdemeanors too. Background checks used to be less accessible. They are now cheap, fast, and easily nationwide or worldwide.

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