Free Talk Live

More proof that they can't put all of us in jail. CA. wants to reduce the prison population, currently 170k. "We simply can't afford the punishment that we've had in California," Petersilia said.(prison expert)
The jailers say they must adhere to court ordered population caps. Must be nice to decide which court orders to follow. In CA., parole violations account for 70,000 prison admissions each year.

The justice ministry said judges were ready to work around the clock to implement the pardon because they have to visit each of more than 30 prisons and assess every prisoner who may qualify for release.

Supporters of the amnesty say it will reduce prison overcrowding.

The US prison population is discussed on QI (Quite Interesting), a British comedy TV quiz show. The US has the highest percentage of imprisoned citizens of any country in the world.

Americans make up just 5 percent of the world's population but account for 25 percent of the population behind bars. Why? Because prisons are a big business and the WAR on Drugs, CNN reporter Fareed Zakaria says. The total number of Americans under correctional supervision (prison, parole, etc.) is 7.1 million, more than the entire state of Massachusetts. Prisons are a big business. Most are privately run, have powerful lobbyists and have bought most state politicians.

The Dutch justice ministry has announced it will close eight prisons and cut 1,200 jobs in the prison system. A decline in crime has left many cells empty.
During the 1990s the Netherlands faced a shortage of prison cells, but a decline in crime has since led to overcapacity in the prison system. The country now has capacity for 14,000 prisoners but only 12,000 detainees.

Crime is going down in America, but more Americans than ever are in prison—and more and more money is being spent and made, turning this country into a giant armed camp. Here are some key points about the private prison industry:

EDITORIAL: Freedom’s just another word
Freedom means different things to each of us, but in New Jersey, California and New York, shrinking personal and economic freedom means shrinking population. In the decade since 2001, New York has lost 9 percent of its population, California 4.5 percent, and New Jersey 5.6 percent.

"When everything is illegal, everyone is a criminal." The United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world—more even than China or Russia. Prof. Daniel J. D'Amico explains that as of 2010 more than 1.6 million people were serving jail sentences in America. Professor D'Amico suggests that "prisons are not what we think about when we think of America, and they shouldn't have to be." According to D'Amico, a free country should not have 1.6 million people in prison, and a fiscally responsible country cannot afford to. As Prof.

"Here we are having a prison population coming in and taking jobs away from the private sector - why in the world we think this is OK. I can guarantee you if this were a Chinese product with Chinese prisoners making that - we would be outraged."