America Behind Bars

People like to commonly refer to democracy as "rule of the majority." This may be theoretically correct, but in most democracies in the world, it would more properly be described as "rule of the majority" while protecting the rights of the minority. The second part, as previously mentioned, is often forgotten but is an integral part of the situation.

Liberals, and Democrats, like to claim a monopoly on minority rights. During campaigns we hear them promising to "protect the downtrodden," and make the government work for the less priviliged. Republicans and conservatives also claim to protect minority rights, such as CEOs and business owners that have been villified by the media and the left.

However, though both claim to defend the "indefensible," with the success of the Republicans in the last few decades, Democrats have joined Republicans in the "law-and-order" campaign. Democrats promise to crack down on offenders while growing police numbers. This shift has caused a serious problem in American politics. No major party is willing to stand up for the criminals, unless they can score some talking points in doing so.

The numbers get worse and worse, the most recent survey shows that currently, as we speak, more than 1% of Americans adults are in prison, 2.3 million. Both in raw data, and per-capita, the United States leads the world in incarceration, ahead of countries like Russia, China, and Ukraine. One out of 9, more than 10% of young Black men are in prison. This is an absolute stain on the American government and American society. We are expending billions of dollars to imprison these people and losing untold dollars in lost potential.

Despite the stagnant crime rate, the incarceration rates have been steadily growing. Terrible policy like "Three Strikes laws" and the inherrent fear instilled in Americans have caused this growing crisis. In Kentucky, the crime rate rose 3% in approximately 30 years, while the state's inmate population rose 600%. This is an absolutely obscene number. Not only that, 1 in 32 Americans are either in prison or on parole. I couldn't find any statistics that indicate how many Americans have been in jail, but I would guess it is near 7-10%. This is a huge problem. Our incarceration rate per-capita is 6-7x the world average.

Why is it so high? Are Americans inherrently more criminal, or is our society less tolerant? Certainly not the former, the statistics are impossibly outside even several standard deviations. Who is to blame? Well, first, politicians, for their awful policies and campaigns to pander to voters. And secondly, of course, the voters. I'm not sure voters understand the magnitude of this situation. We created scapegoats for society's problems and no one, except organizations such as the ACLU and Libertarian Party, were willing to defend them.

How can we fix it? Ultimately, it rests with the voters. But we need to change the way this country looks at crime. First- no jail time for non-violent crimes. Before we campaign to legalize drugs (as I believe it's everyone's right to do whatever they want, if it doesn't hurt others) we should focus on decriminalizing drugs. There is no reason to throw drug users in jail, as long as they aren't committing other crimes. Fine them and send them on their way. It is mutually beneficial to both sides.

A Houston-based Texan State Senator said, “We have 5,500 D.W.I offenders in prison,” he said, including people caught driving under the influence who had not been in an accident. “They’re in the general population. As serious as drinking and driving is, we should segregate them and give them treatment.”

We need to lessen the amount of non-violent offenders who go to jail. Repeat offenders need help, not jail time. Parole violators deserve fines, not to be thrown back into jail. Sadly, in this two-party system, we are going to need one of the parties to stand up and have courage. They need to defend those who society, and the media have already convicted. Unless there is a change in culture...we are going to continue down this path and more defenseless Americans are going to be serving time in prison.