Webb Takes on Politics’ Third Rail: Prison Reform
Published: March 29, 2009
In spite of having the demeanor sometimes of a bull in the proverbial china shop, U.S. Sen. Jim Webb also has the reputation of a legislator who’s unafraid to take on Herculean tasks.
In the last session of Congress, the freshman U.S. senator looked at the huge number of armed services veterans returning from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and realized the decades-old GI Bill was in need of serious updating.
Himself a Vietnam vet (in addition to being a former secretary of the Navy), he took on the job of crafting a new GI Bill and shepherding it through the Byzantine legislative process to ultimate passage.
That would have been a career-capper for any legislator; for a freshman, it was a success almost unheard of.
Now, Virginia’s senior senator has turned his attention to reform of America’s criminal justice system. Thursday, Webb introduced the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009 in Congress, with bipartisan support from top Democratic and Republican senators. His top GOP ally is Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
America’s prisons — both federal and state — are overflowing with prisoners. The United States has about 5 percent of the world’s population; we have about 25 percent of the world’s known prison population, Webb estimates.
Something, somewhere is seriously wrong.
In his speech Thursday introducing the legislation, Webb pointed out some stark and startling statistics.
In 1980, the U.S. had about 41,000 drug offenders behind bars. Today, that number is up to more than half a million, an increase of 1,200 percent. Black Americans (12 percent of the population, 14 percent of drug users) account for 37 percent of those arrested on drug charges, 59 percent of those convicted and 74 percent of those sent to prison.
The causes of crime are many; society’s cost of protection is huge. Yet despite all the added police officers on the street, the prison building boom and abolition of parole in many states, Americans feel no safer.
Much of this country’s criminal activity can be traced back to drug use. Addicts — who often can’t hold down a job but need the cash to get their next fix — make up a great proportion of the prison population. But what if our political and judicial systems began to view addicts as individuals with an illness that needed treating before any crime were committed?
That’s the challenge Webb has tackled. Just think of the changes that could arise if society just modifies its thinking about crime, drugs and addiction. It’s truly mind-boggling.
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I have a question, though.
“How come we didn’t have this problem 80, 70, 60, 50 years ago?
Drugs were still illegal. People still had addictions. Why were not the prisons overflowing with people then? Why were cities and towns not full of meth labs and crack houses?“
Depends on what you call drugs. What merits a drug? In theory alcohol’s a drug. But it’s legal. And causes over 500,000 deaths a year. Marijuana is illegal. It’s health effects have killed… I’m not sure, no where on any site have I seen any amount of people killed by it. Probably has to do with it’s long term health effects aren’t anywhere near as bad as tobacco and alcohol. And the addiction rate is, easily, much less than either alcohol OR tobacco. So in my opinion, I don’t believe you should consider cannabis anywhere near the grounds of any other “hard” drugs, and in fact no where near as bad as people who pop prescription pills. But yet the static’s state, and no I’m not going to quote them for you due to the fact within 2 minutes on google you can find the facts, a majority of these people in prison are related to the use and sale of cannabis. If it was legal, that wouldn’t be the case. Just more recently people are becoming more aware of cannabis and it’s becoming much more main stream, regardless of the laws. But tons of our youth as well as adult’s are being branded as “criminals” for simple possession of this substance which is no worse than alcohol or tobbaco and is practically impossible to OD on. On top of that many are incarcerated, and YOUR tax dollars are going towards prosecuting these “criminals” and paying for them to live in a prison/jail. So yes the system we have is MISERABLY AWFUL and wastes some odd 10 billion dollars worth of our money on trying to stop these “criminals” when really we could be spending that money on going after gang’s and what not as Webb states in many of the articles posted more recently. Wow I just realized these posts are really, really old. >.< Whatever.
I applaud Sen. Webb for attacking the biggest social problem facing America. Undoubtedly the solution to the drug problem is the solution to the prison problem. And the solution is obvious: take the profit out of pushing drugs on the street corner! The only way to do that is to legalize drugs and for the state to handle cheap distribution. That will remove the incentive for the pushers, provide profits to the state, and meet the needs of the addicts.
Catching a drug user has flourished into one of the largest businesses in this country.
The cops get a pat on the back and promotions. The Lawyers get enormous fees defending and prosecuting the users and trafficers. The courts get funds to continue on with less tax payers dollars. Then the states need more prisons and staff, thus a job for many people who can stand to guard people who are contently trying to bribe them to get drugs from the out side.
It is an enormous business with profits for every one but the unfortunate soul with a health and mental problem.
The examples of corrpution are constently in the news. Like the judges getting kick backs to send first time users or people in the wrong place at the wrong time to prison. Kids who should have been put into a drug program and left at home in stead of now having a felony record and jail time on their record. A corrupt system branding kids for life.
Eighty years ago we had the prohibition of alcohol. This failed miserably just like the prohibition of drugs has. At least the leaders of that period had the sense to admit their mistake and lift the ban. Seventy to eighty years ago we also had a widespread cocaine and opiate problem. The modern version of the “war on drugs” wasn’t truly launched until the 1960s under the Nixon Administration and this was expanded under Reagan and every president since. Crack cocaine didn’t exist during the times you reference and crystal meth labs weren’t necessary as it was easy to get speed from your friendly family physician/pharmacist. And cities certainly are not full of meth labs. Most production occurs in Mexico and extremely rural areas.
Interesting.
I have a question, though.
How come we didn’t have this problem 80, 70, 60, 50 years ago?
Drugs were still illegal. People still had addictions. Why were not the prisons overflowing with people then? Why were cities and towns not full of meth labs and crack houses?
Answer THAT question (the TRUE political third rail) and you will be well on your way to solving the problem!!
Well said.
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