#MASS INCARCERATION / FISHING HOLES

The U.S. incarcerates 25% of the worlds prisoners despite having only 5% of the world's population. There were approximately 500,000 inmates in America in 1980, today there are 2.2 million. The Federal prison pop. swelled from 24,000 in 1980 to 218,000 in 2013. In Michigan the prison pop. ballooned from 14,658 in 1984 to 35,000 in 1990. Michigan spends a higher proportion of its general fund budget on prisons than any other state and devotes more money to prisons, than higher education. The Michigan Department of Corrections budget was 193 million in 1981, due to Mass Incarceration it grew to 1.8 billion in 2006, the prison pop. was 51,515 that year. From 2006 to 2013 the MDOC reduced its prison pop. to 43,704. Even though, the MDOC shrunk its pop. by 7,811 the budget for the MDOC grew to 2 billion plus. With Mass Incarceration, came the tough-on-crime position, where prosecutors mandate is to hit every defendant with the heaviest penalty they can, and convictions over justice became the way of doing business. The prosecutor's job is not to guarantee guilt or innocent, but to the process. Many prosecutor's do what ever it takes to obtain and keep an conviction, when they should seek justice over convictions. Congressman John Conyers Jr. stated, "Over most of the last 30 years, our federal and state governments have been engaged in wrongheaded and short-sighted 'war on crime' focusing on punishment to the exclusion of prevention and rehabilitation." Many feel that the system makes us safer when the incarcerate people, however, merely locking people up doesn't make us safe especially when very little is done to change the behavior. It makes you think, what have we accomplished other than tear apart families, make it harder to employ them, and cost the taxpayers a lot of money. Another question should be asked, "Who are being mass incarcerated?" If we look at the numbers we will see that, minorities have suffered disproportionately under mass incarceration laws. One in 10 Black men in their 30's is incarcerated on any given day and more than 60% of our prisoners are racial and ethnic minorities. In Wisconsin Blacks are 6% of the pop., but 38% of the prison pop. In Michigan 14% of the pop. is black, but 56% of the prison pop. Now we know who are being incarcerated, but from where? In every state there are geographic areas that are labeled as 'High Crime Areas'. Law Enforcement are trained to profile areas and people, however, the danger in profiling people is police already know who they are dealing with before they have any interaction with them. These designated areas have become 'Fishing Holes' for police, these 'fishing holes' are communities that have low or weak economies and their area & zip codes that identifies them rarely change. The 'Dragnet' used to catch the big fish only nets small fishes, the targeting of certain areas and tough on crime is a war on the poor. In this 'modern day segregation', Bait Car does not go to wealthy communities because no one is taking the bait there, however, if you dangle an opportunity to eat no matter if it right or wrong they may take an chance to satisfy their hunger. If is almost a self-fulfilling prophecy, what is the likelihood of someone taking the bait who doesn't know where their next meal is going to come from, its like shooting fish in a barrel. Many feel that criminal behavior is influenced by undesirable and living conditions, this may be true for some. However, what about the millions who live in these same environments and conditions that do not commit crime. Allowing external factors to influence behavior and attitude is a matter of personal choice. A person can relocate to another state and improve their living conditions, but if they do not change their old behavior it will be a waste of time, because they can not run from themselves. For the most part, Mass Incarceration only work when the bait is taken.
Now available online @ Amazon.com "The Quarterback Handbook" by Raymond L. Carr Jr. This book is about 'Male Responsibility'

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