[ExI] Proposition 47 has passed in California

[William Flynn Wallace]

The pendulum swings back and forth.  Politicians who think they'll get more
votes if they appear to be "tough on crime" keep extending sentences and
tossing more people in jail.

This is what it is like in Mississippi.  However, even here they are
reducing sentences, though not out of a sense of anything but saving
money.  The Repubs have the lock on gov. here and so we don't get all the
tax money we should and so it has to come from somewhere.  They do love to
put black people in jail in Mississippi.

bill w

On Sat, Nov 8, 2014 at 2:00 PM, Adrian Tymes <atymes at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sat, Nov 8, 2014 at 11:39 AM, BillK <pharos at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> This news hasn't got a mention on the BBC, but surely this is a big deal?
>> To me it looks like the beginning of the end for the War on Drugs that
>> has ruined a generation.
>>
>> <
>> http://newamericamedia.org/2014/11/prop-47-as-california-goes-so-goes-the-nation.php
>> >
>>
>
> The pendulum swings back and forth.  Politicians who think they'll get
> more votes if they appear to be "tough on crime" keep extending sentences
> and tossing more people in jail.
>
> This only came about because the same politicians refused to pay for more
> jails to the point that overcrowding became intolerable, and the federal
> courts stepped in.  The politicians have continued to attempt to not seem
> soft on crime; this proposition - which they are unable to simply legislate
> away - gives them an excuse to do the right thing.
>
> But note that this came from the voters.  The whole "tough on crime" meme
> may be getting less popular once enough voters see how this costs them
> personally - when too many of them have a friend or relative who's been
> locked away for something that only deserved a slap on the wrist.
>
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