For smoking pot?

Huge numbers of people are in prison for smoking pot, some who only smoked for medical reasons.

What kind of drug treatment would you have given strait-laced, otherwise law-abiding 92-year old L., who smoked pot that her eminent surgeon son got for her on the black market, because it was the best way to relieve her glaucoma? A re-entry program, for goodness sake? She never left society in any way, shape, or form. Fortunately, she wasn't arrested for her "crime."

Legalize it!

There is certainly a lot more prison reform needed, but that would be a good first step. It would reduce the costs, the overcrowding, and demonstrate some sanity, if anyone in our government has any.

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legalizing pot would help unclog the courts, free space for the violent offenders and save over 1 billion a year for incarceration costs. there are about 750,000 pot smokers in prison today. the privatizing of prisons and the global drug syndicate has something to do with this.

since 1992, approximately 6 million americans have been arrested on marijuana
source: US Government Printing Office, 1996), pp. 207-208; FBI, UCR for the US 1990; Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime in America: FBI Uniform Crime Reports 2003 (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 2004), p.269, Table 4.1 & p. 270, Table 29

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... is a universal understatement reflecting the criminal abuses of "authority" spanning every social system in the history of "civilization". It's never been more true than it is today and reform has never picked a less likely time to succeed.

The recent revelations of judicial commercialism in Pennsylvania illustrates the overriding systemic corruption and pervasive degree of the abandonment of ethics. But the rot in juvenile "justice" in particular has the worst stench and durable lineage effectively creating successive generations of a client subclass.

When a culture inflicts on it's youth the worst that it has ethically to offer, as has ours for generations, small wonder that our prison system excels in per-capita head count.

I wish Jim Webb well, but he's taking on an inbred system entrenched in a hyprocritically warped police state mindset that criminally exploits it's own failings for profit, and relentlessly self perpetuates injustice.

The recently exposed extremes in PA are but a small example of our decomposing body of "justice", which further solidifies the mockery our culture makes of the word.

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This could be one of the best ways to reduce the cost of the draconian prison system in this country.

I find it encouraging that Senator Jim Webb has started the ball rolling. His state certainly is in dire need of reforming their system.

Moreover, the amount of money released for the treatment programs, could well come from the savings in the reformation of a system that has always been too tied to politics and and the continuance of racial hatred.

This should lead to a like programs for other elements of this broken social state of America.

Contact you Senators and Representatives to prioritize this program.

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For a strange reason, I have more compassion for my pols the more local they are than the ones higher up. I've had some issues with Webb but surprisingly, when I look at a variety of issues, he actually turns out to be truly more liberal than Feinstein and Schumer. At least he's not the kind of corporate sellout and he has even tried to scale back on this reckless war turned occupation in Iraq and I don't forget the educating the troops part that Mccain was eventually forced to support. Seriously though, Hampton Roads and Northern VA can't afford to imitate CA especially when it comes to prison overcrowding and building more prisons in the rural areas of the state especially the western part isn't something he'd want to see. I can remember the days when then candidate George Allen in 2000 attacked Robb nastily on felons and parole while he would silently support more prison building. For that reason alone, I'd have to thank the stars that GOD kicked Allen out in 2006. If he can push for better educating the troops and possibly out of their madness, I think he could try the same and see how it works out.

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Put their minds to work. -- Make them responsible for coming up with new ways for people to become self-sufficient. -- Require prisoners to do problem-solving chores. -- Give an improving standard of living as an incentive. -- Help them learn to farm, raise animals, design alternative ways to get work done and keep things healthy. -- When released, they can bring these skills to their communities, instead of returning with honed gang skills. -- Everyone needs a sense of purpose. -- Custodial incarceration never works, why not use all that untapped energy instead of allowing it free destructive reign. -- Create Green Prisons.

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War on drugs is causing massive collateral damage to the youth of America

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Don't click on that link (IDENTITY THEFT!)

This asshole is not trying to protect your privacy; he's trying to steal your identity.

If you click on his "Privacy Center" hyperlink, the server the link points to will install a keylogger on your computer, which is used to steal your credit card number, SSN, etc.

Please, report the comment to Alternet's staff.

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Then why haven't you petitioned the justice department to investigate Mr. Bush et al? Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld are obvious war criminals who ought to get the injection once convicted.

Is prison reform top priority because looks like many from the Republican party are headed to prison for long terms, now the economy is tanking?

MS. Vanden Heuvel has become a Republican booster? Finally, she shows her real colors.

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Most of them are enormously rich. The handful that actually makes money on drug importing and distribution, will never go to jail. That would cut off the supply and cripple the business. The drug business is very profitable from beginning to end, including rehab and other forms of treatment that cost a fortune. I give Webb all the credit he deserves, but the drug business in this country is part of the economy which is not looking good right about now. A failing drug market wouldn't look much different from the banks going under. It's big business, another commodity. Thanks, ANNA

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end the fraudulent war on drugs... its really just a war on your bill of rights and an alibi to build a totalitarian police state to protect their many NAZI monopolies from competition...

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YOU ARE FUNDING NAZI SCUM WITH YOUR PURCHASE

BUYING WEED FROM A LOCAL GROWER IS PATRITIC

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U.S. judges admit to jailing children for money

U.S. judges accused of jailing kids for cash

"Two judges pleaded guilty on Thursday to accepting more than $2.6 million from a private youth detention center in Pennsylvania in return for giving hundreds of youths and teenagers long sentences... When someone is sent to a detention center, the company running the facility receives money from the county government to defray the cost of incarceration. So as more children were sentenced to the detention center, PA Childcare and Western PA Childcare received more money from the government."

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Step one: Stop the privatization of prisons! The same sociopaths who ruined our banks and bankrupted the country are sunning our prisons. As long as people are making big $$$ incarcerating people, more will be imprisoned...OBVIOUSLY. And for much longer...OF COURSE.

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schools first...

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just the Legal System is broken, Our Society is BROKEN! It has been systematically attacked & destroyed! It is ruled by FEAR & GREED! As a Prime example, note the Two JUDGES just disbarred for GREEDILY sending Children to JAIL so they could get over two MILLION DOLLARS! Then LOOK at the "potential" time They might serve: SEVEN YEARS!?! That SHOULD be SEVENTY YEARS because They misused Their Authority & Their "Public Trust"!! IF They EVEN SEE Jail time, it will be in a "Country Club" Facility! SOME Punishment THAT is!!

As a SOCIETY, We should DEMAND a higher level of commitment & performance from "Public Servants" complete with MORE severe PUNISHMENTS for Those that ABUSE Their "Trust" & Positions! UNTIL We do that, All and/or ANY "reforms" will be USELESS!

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I find it depressing that Mike Hamersley gets to confiscate honest citizens income while he himself by his own definition is a tax cheat. Misprison, it is a crime not to report a crime. Any U.S. citizen who knows of another who has committed a crime and does not report it to the authorities, is guilty of Misprison and could be subjected to years in prison for the commission of such crime. Therefore I must hereby notify all legal authorities that Mike Hamersley a high level Government official in the bankrupt state of California at the FTB (who is nationally known as a tax shelter fighting crusader) is guilty of tax evasion and conspiracy to commit tax evasion as (he defines it); guilty of theft of honest services; conspiracy to defraud creditors; possibly perjury to the Senate and other government agencies: and violation of 7216, disclosure of confidential taxpayer information to third parties. It is indeed a rather long list.

Hamersley testified to the Senate in 2003 that tax fraud involves devising transactions which allow for tax losses and “hiding the true facts from the IRS”. The transcripts are available for all to see. Hamersley also restated the same in his lawsuit against KPMG in 2003 (which is a public document).

As one example of Hamersley’s fraud, Hamersley while at KPMG gave advice to a client that tens of millions of tax losses could obtain with a 20% to 30% of success upon IRS audit if the IRS discovered the true facts of the transaction. Presumably, if the IRS did not discover the true facts of the transaction, a higher chance of success upon audit by the IRS would obtain. Hamersley was advising on a series of preplanned asset and stock transfers which involved separating assets from liabilities inside a company, transferring the assets to a foreign company and selling the stock of yet another company to the client’s lawyer for a dollar, all to achieve tens of millions in tax losses and defraud the creditors of the company from which the assets were being stripped. Hamersley’s participation in all these crimes is confirmed in an email by him dated May 24, 2000 prepared by him while working as a tax expert at KPMG.

Hamersley also further participated in hiding the true facts of the transaction from the IRS and the creditors by reviewing and approving documents prepared in June of 2000 which gave effect to the transaction back to 19999 (which based on Hamersley’s definition of tax evasion, is a classic case of backdating a fraudulent tax shelter).

In fact, the transaction approved by Hamersley is very similar to the one he claimed in his lawsuit against KPMG involving XYZ corporation (which we all now know was Occidental Petroleum) as tax fraud.

This of course creates an interesting conundrum for Hamersley, as it is likely he will claim his tax shelters were not fraudulent (not with standing his email which describes the possibility and chances of success upon IRS audit if the IRS discovers the true facts), however, if that is so, then his description of tax fraud to the Senate, other government officials, taxpayers whom he now confiscates income from and all the people he gave speeches to and articles he wrote for are being lied to. In which case, Hamersley is guilty of lying to the Senate and other government officials, perjury; outright theft of income from those taxpayer’s whom he is now confiscating income; theft of honest services from the FTB and those who he gave speeches to or wrote articles for on tax fraud; and most incredibly, conspiracy to defraud creditors by participating in a convoluted scheme to separate valuable assets from liabilities for profit at the creditors expense.

Further, Hamersley by giving a so called substantial authority opinion to his client committed outright conspiracy to commit tax evasion under his own definition.

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We the American people are responsible. We have allowed our representatives to write the laws that have lead to the current situation. We have allowed the profit motive to gain a foothold in our Government and Justice System. When will we take responsibility for the failures and demand they be corrected.

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I thought rather naively this could never happen in the United States of America but reality checks point to disturbing and shocking events which take place in US prison system. Under the “watchful eyes” of the prison guards and even by the prison guards the prisoners are sexually abused and even killed while serving time. This is a huge shame not only to the decent American but to the entire humanity. We as a nation lock up more human beings in our prisoners than any other. We are a nation of violent perverts who will do anything for power, authority, and money and job security.

While our schools get closed even in good times especially during times like now with budget shortfalls where our teachers get laid off and are sorely under paid meanwhile our police stations, our fire stations, jails and prisons and city hall buildings get money for renovations and expansions, our police get better treatment then most of us with higher education and decades of valuable expertise. We are a nation full of hatreds and conflict which is mostly created by the elite class in order to keep the ordinary citizens under their control. I cannot wait for the day when the people will finally wake up and see who has been responsible for their misery and deprivations for so long.

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It's sad that the so-called small government conservatives have wasted so many dollars and lives with their lock-em-up-and-throw-away-the-key mentality, but at least the fiscal crisis may force a reassessment and a return to logic and empirical evidence.

We lock up somebody caught with a joint, but don't lock up officials who kidnap and torture people to death. What a country!

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