Land of the Free

Friday 1 February 2013 - Filed under Uncategorized

America: the freest country on earth. International Business Times:

Almost a quarter of the world’s prison population is locked up in one country: the United States.

For years, the U.S. has held the infamous reputation of having the highest per capita rate of incarcerated individuals on the planet, dwarfing that of other comparable industrialized nations. There were 1.6 million state and federal prisoners in the country as of 2011, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, which reports 492 out of every 100,000 U.S. residents were sentenced to more than 12 months in prison that year.

And the worst part is that, in federal prison, the majority (not plurality, but MAJORITY) of those who are imprisoned are there not for crimes in which there are any victims, but for crimes against the state (which is to say crimes which offend naught but the sensibilities of lawmakers and bureaucrats).

The sad part is, most of that money has been used to lock up drug offenders.

Since 1998, individuals arrested for drug crimes have constituted the largest portion of federal prison admissions, followed closely by those arrested for immigration and weapons-related offenses. Meanwhile, the CRS reports there has been a significant drop off in the number of inmates entering prison for violent or property-related crimes, which only made up about 4 percent and 11 percent of prison admissions in 2010.

A huge portion of those drug offenders are arrested for marijuana offenses, even though the substance – now legal in 18 states for medicinal use– has become increasingly mainstream. However, statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation reveal more people were arrested for marijuana possession than all violent crimes combined in 2011. (emphasis mine)

The federal government is the largest threat to the freedom of Americans we have. And at least 50% + 1 want more of it. The federal government creates new categories of crime out of thin air, wantonly sends people to jail for victimless infractions against the state, sentences them to mandatory terms that can only be considered draconian by virtually any standard that isn’t set by bureaucrats, and makes it impossible for them to get out on parole. Land of the free, indeed.

2013-02-01  »  madlibertarianguy