TheFederalistWeasel
member
I've often wondered just how far we will go before we reach critical mass and either swing around in the other direction or everything just explodes in our faces and we end up far worse than we are.
What I'm speaking of is the current state of the criminal justice system, those who run it and have a large part in its continued perpetuation upon our society.
Before you start to form an opinion read on and just think about all of what I'm saying, I'm not attempting to advocate a course of action or anything just attempting to stir up the ole mental process.
At present we are in a time where state legislatures churn out record amounts of laws each year, this past year Tennessee passed over 4,000 new laws. We seem to be enamored with labels...
Convicted Felon, Probationer, Parolee, Sex offender and the list goes on and on.
Once you are labeled with one of these, very seldom do you ever lose that label, some even come with a lifetime attachment and other criminal charges if you don't abide by the rules of wearing your Scarlett Letter.
It would almost seem that we are in a mode of criminalizing as many people as we can, for as many reasons as we can for the purpose of control and tracking.
Judges and Politicians are quick to toss out the term "rehabilitation" and "rehabilitated" when referring to the "correctional system" in this country and even its name rings of an oxymoron.
We are idiots to think this true, we are not rehabilitating anyone, in fact the evidence is there to show that jail more often than not makes non-violent criminals violent and violent criminals deadly.
These people are charged with a crime, convicted or plea out then either enter a prison system or into the world of probation where probation officers are all too quick to violate you for almost anything just to put you back into jail.
Fines are levied and payment is demanded or you go back to jail, usually for a probation violation which is itself could be a felony in most states.
They eventually get out, no one will give them a job or one with a livable wage and we wonder why they resort to burglary, theft or other crimes and end up back in jail.
Misdemeanors add up to felonies...
Shoplift in GA and TN for $250.00 or more and its a felony, shoplift 3 times in a seven day period no matter what the value of the items is and its a felony, bad checks can add up to a felony, even $1.00 check over a period of time.
Commit several moving violations within a 24 month period and accumulate 15 points on your license, they are suspended for 6 months for serious offenses or a safety violation.
Get caught driving on a suspended license and its off to jail and 12 more months of suspension. get caught 3 times in a 5 year period and your a habitual Violator, and that is a felony punishable by 5 years in prison.
While DUI is a serious crime, cops are all to quick to push the envelope with borderline cases, (most states have a limit of 0.08 grams BAC) such as a 0.081 or as I've seen many times 0.07 and the officer will go with a less safe case against the person.
The cycle continues...
Now we have the three strikes your out rule in effect, in some cases its applied to rather mundane crimes speaking of intensity only. Normally if you are on the receiving end of this law its 25 to life in prison for you.
We are seeing more and more people committing more and more serious crimes while out on probation or parole and the sex offenders, lately it seems that more and more kids are being kidnapped and killed by these predators than ever before.
I've often argued and continue to wonder if these people are so dangerous that we must make the register or we must keep them on probation to keep track of them then why in the hell did we let them out in the first place?
Guess my question is simple to ask but complicated to answer.
So what do we do?
What I'm speaking of is the current state of the criminal justice system, those who run it and have a large part in its continued perpetuation upon our society.
Before you start to form an opinion read on and just think about all of what I'm saying, I'm not attempting to advocate a course of action or anything just attempting to stir up the ole mental process.
At present we are in a time where state legislatures churn out record amounts of laws each year, this past year Tennessee passed over 4,000 new laws. We seem to be enamored with labels...
Convicted Felon, Probationer, Parolee, Sex offender and the list goes on and on.
Once you are labeled with one of these, very seldom do you ever lose that label, some even come with a lifetime attachment and other criminal charges if you don't abide by the rules of wearing your Scarlett Letter.
It would almost seem that we are in a mode of criminalizing as many people as we can, for as many reasons as we can for the purpose of control and tracking.
Judges and Politicians are quick to toss out the term "rehabilitation" and "rehabilitated" when referring to the "correctional system" in this country and even its name rings of an oxymoron.
We are idiots to think this true, we are not rehabilitating anyone, in fact the evidence is there to show that jail more often than not makes non-violent criminals violent and violent criminals deadly.
These people are charged with a crime, convicted or plea out then either enter a prison system or into the world of probation where probation officers are all too quick to violate you for almost anything just to put you back into jail.
Fines are levied and payment is demanded or you go back to jail, usually for a probation violation which is itself could be a felony in most states.
They eventually get out, no one will give them a job or one with a livable wage and we wonder why they resort to burglary, theft or other crimes and end up back in jail.
Misdemeanors add up to felonies...
Shoplift in GA and TN for $250.00 or more and its a felony, shoplift 3 times in a seven day period no matter what the value of the items is and its a felony, bad checks can add up to a felony, even $1.00 check over a period of time.
Commit several moving violations within a 24 month period and accumulate 15 points on your license, they are suspended for 6 months for serious offenses or a safety violation.
Get caught driving on a suspended license and its off to jail and 12 more months of suspension. get caught 3 times in a 5 year period and your a habitual Violator, and that is a felony punishable by 5 years in prison.
While DUI is a serious crime, cops are all to quick to push the envelope with borderline cases, (most states have a limit of 0.08 grams BAC) such as a 0.081 or as I've seen many times 0.07 and the officer will go with a less safe case against the person.
The cycle continues...
Now we have the three strikes your out rule in effect, in some cases its applied to rather mundane crimes speaking of intensity only. Normally if you are on the receiving end of this law its 25 to life in prison for you.
We are seeing more and more people committing more and more serious crimes while out on probation or parole and the sex offenders, lately it seems that more and more kids are being kidnapped and killed by these predators than ever before.
I've often argued and continue to wonder if these people are so dangerous that we must make the register or we must keep them on probation to keep track of them then why in the hell did we let them out in the first place?
Guess my question is simple to ask but complicated to answer.
So what do we do?