US Supreme Court Orders 46,000 criminals released

[Gallstones]

I believe that if a felon donates a kidney, a lung or lobe of liver they can get out early. Plus selling organs raises revenue for the prisons.

It's not like there aren't any good options.

[.Morticia.]

Prison conditions in many states, such as California, are bad enough to be considered cruel & unusual punishment. True, it's also not justice that so many prisoners are being let out because of this ruling, but that's why justice is represented by scales: in this case, it's a matter of which decision would've been worse. I think the majority made a very tough decision and got it right.

Of course, this ruling never would've happened if the penal system had enough money to function properly. But when state governments are faced with budget shortfalls, it's always easy to deny adequate funds to prisons in order to meet other needs. And why do budgets have such shortfalls? Well, it's obviously not because overspending is such an epidemic, or else these prisons would be functioning just fine. The problem is much more on the revenue side. Raise some frickin' taxes already!

Most beautiful post I've read in a long time.

[Adenosine]

America should do three four things. One, legalise marijuana, which has already been mentioned. Two, reduce the number of cops you have. Sounds counter-intuitive but it isn't. You have three or fours layers of cops in some areas and they all need to look busy. So they get busy busting people for stupid shit that everywhere else in the world would get them a raised eyebrow and a move on order. Why do you need city/town cops, county cops, highway cops, state cops and the FBI? All you need is state cops and the FBI. With no bloody elections. Cops shouldn't be elected. Especially when the prisons are privately owned. Which brings us to the next thing. The state should own the prisons. They shouldn't be a business, they're for punishment/behaviour modification. And finally not have the economic system where minimum wage is less than what is needed to live so people have two choices. Work two or more jobs or get into crime.

This message was delivered from my ivory tower.

[Gallstones]

Most cops are municipal employees and are not elected. Highway Patrol patrols....the highways.
Most prisons are state and county funded. Ex. Montana State Prison and the Montana Women's Correctional Facility. They are the only ones we have. We have Fish and Wildlife and game wardens too. Each specializes in a particular area of enforcement. Keep in mind that the state of Montana is greater in acreage than Britain and we have a population under 1 million.

[Adenosine]

Most cops are municipal employees and are not elected. Highway Patrol patrols....the highways.
Most prisons are state and county funded. Ex. Montana State Prison and the Montana Women's Correctional Facility. They are the only ones we have. We have Fish and Wildlife and game wardens too. Each specializes on a particular area of enforcement. Keep in mind that the state of Montana is greater in acreage than Britain and we have a population under 1 million.

I wasn't making blanket statements to cover every state and town. The prisons that are privately owned shouldn't be. Where you have overlapping jurisdictions you shouldn't. Where cops are elected they shouldn't be. Why can't Montana just have state police that police the towns, cities and highways? With only a million people it looks like a big burden to be funding several layers of cops. Fish and Wildlife is a separate issue. How many people do they put in jail for B&E or drug offences?

[Azathoth]

In Iceland there is a waiting list to get into Butlins prison. If it is full you have to wait until there is a space to do your time. Strange fucking country sometimes.

[Adenosine]

I'll also add that Queensland, where I live, has an area of 1.7 million square kilometres compared to Montana's 381 156 km sq and a population of 4.5 million compared to Montana's 974 989 (2009) and we manage with two layers, the Queensland Police Service who do pretty much everything from major crime to traffic duty to highway patrol. And the second layer of the Australian Federal Police who do sfa on a state level. And it's nice not having to pay extra rates to cover city and county cops.

EDIT: The problem of multi-layers of law enforcement is that you need multi-layers of bureaucracy to keep it all running. And then you do have the battle of each layer trying to meet quotas to keep their funding up.

[Gallstones]

Most cops are municipal employees and are not elected. Highway Patrol patrols....the highways.
Most prisons are state and county funded. Ex. Montana State Prison and the Montana Women's Correctional Facility. They are the only ones we have. We have Fish and Wildlife and game wardens too. Each specializes on a particular area of enforcement. Keep in mind that the state of Montana is greater in acreage than Britain and we have a population under 1 million.

I wasn't making blanket statements to cover every state and town. The prisons that are privately owned shouldn't be. Where you have overlapping jurisdictions you shouldn't. Where cops are elected they shouldn't be. Why can't Montana just have state police that police the towns, cities and highways? With only a million people it looks like a big burden to be funding several layers of cops. Fish and Wildlife is a separate issue. How many people do they put in jail for B&E or drug offences?

The job has to be done. What difference does it make how the job is partitioned out? I think most people--where I live--prefer that the cops be local and part of the community.

There isn't overlap. Highway patrol does the interstate highways, police/sheriff/cops do the communities and Fish and Game do fish and game. Special issues, special training and familiarity and specialized enforcement.

[Seth]

Legalizing marijuana would go a long way to taking some of the burden off the criminal justice system. It would create an entrepreneurial opportunity where people who are now felons and on the public dime would instead be legitimate businesspersons making money and contributing capital to their counties and the state. It would also remove the incentive for some crime based business.

What should happen is that all non-violent, non-dealer FEDERAL marijuana prisoners should be released, and the FEDERAL prisons should be stuffed with as many of the state felons as they can get away with, as a start.

Then all state marijuana non-violent, non-dealer prisoners should be released, and California, like every other state, should REFUSE to cooperate with the feds on marijuana investigations, arrests, bookings, trials or incarcerations.

[Gallstones]

Legalizing marijuana would go a long way to taking some of the burden off the criminal justice system. It would create an entrepreneurial opportunity where people who are now felons and on the public dime would instead be legitimate businesspersons making money and contributing capital to their counties and the state. It would also remove the incentive for some crime based business.

What should happen is that all non-violent, non-dealer FEDERAL marijuana prisoners should be released, and the FEDERAL prisons should be stuffed with as many of the state felons as they can get away with, as a start.

Then all state marijuana non-violent, non-dealer prisoners should be released, and California, like every other state, should REFUSE to cooperate with the feds on marijuana investigations, arrests, bookings, trials or incarcerations.

I think. On the surface it sounds good to me. But I may be missing some nuanced aspects that I might disagree with.

[Adenosine]

Most cops are municipal employees and are not elected. Highway Patrol patrols....the highways.
Most prisons are state and county funded. Ex. Montana State Prison and the Montana Women's Correctional Facility. They are the only ones we have. We have Fish and Wildlife and game wardens too. Each specializes on a particular area of enforcement. Keep in mind that the state of Montana is greater in acreage than Britain and we have a population under 1 million.

I wasn't making blanket statements to cover every state and town. The prisons that are privately owned shouldn't be. Where you have overlapping jurisdictions you shouldn't. Where cops are elected they shouldn't be. Why can't Montana just have state police that police the towns, cities and highways? With only a million people it looks like a big burden to be funding several layers of cops. Fish and Wildlife is a separate issue. How many people do they put in jail for B&E or drug offences?

The job has to be done. What difference does it make how the job is partitioned out? I think most people--where I live--prefer that the cops be local and part of the community.

There isn't overlap. Highway patrol does the interstate highways, police/sheriff/cops do the communities and Fish and Game do fish and game. Special issues, special training and familiarity and specialized enforcement.

As I said just above your post, every layer of police requires an accompanying bureaucracy and quotas that need to be filled. Financially that's doing a great injustice to the taxpayers of the area. Can state, county and town police arrest people for drug offences? Does it matter where the offences took place? If someone has a bag of pot in the middle of a town in the middle of a county in the middle of the state can all three levels arrest him?

[Gallstones]

Most cops are municipal employees and are not elected. Highway Patrol patrols....the highways.
Most prisons are state and county funded. Ex. Montana State Prison and the Montana Women's Correctional Facility. They are the only ones we have. We have Fish and Wildlife and game wardens too. Each specializes on a particular area of enforcement. Keep in mind that the state of Montana is greater in acreage than Britain and we have a population under 1 million.

I wasn't making blanket statements to cover every state and town. The prisons that are privately owned shouldn't be. Where you have overlapping jurisdictions you shouldn't. Where cops are elected they shouldn't be. Why can't Montana just have state police that police the towns, cities and highways? With only a million people it looks like a big burden to be funding several layers of cops. Fish and Wildlife is a separate issue. How many people do they put in jail for B&E or drug offences?

The job has to be done. What difference does it make how the job is partitioned out? I think most people--where I live--prefer that the cops be local and part of the community.

There isn't overlap. Highway patrol does the interstate highways, police/sheriff/cops do the communities and Fish and Game do fish and game. Special issues, special training and familiarity and specialized enforcement.

As I said just above your post, every layer of police requires an accompanying bureaucracy and quotas that need to be filled. Financially that's doing a great injustice to the taxpayers of the area. Can state, county and town police arrest people for drug offences? Does it matter where the offences took place? If someone has a bag of pot in the middle of a town in the middle of a county in the middle of the state can all three levels arrest him?

Yeah. I still don't think your way is the best way.

Communities are not the same as interstate highways and forests and rivers are not highways or communities. Plus, in the US states get to decide some laws for themselves, they need their own police to police their state laws. This is a concept that outsiders don't seem to understand. We are not homogeneous. People do not want some disconnected bureaucrat--because they will all still be bureaucrats--insensitive to local culture enforcing local laws.

[Adenosine]

I said all along that states should have their police. I've also said that I don't get the point of county and town police. Or highway police for that matter. Can't state police drive on the highways? Would having to learn the Highway Code overheat their brains?

I've also never said that Americans are homogeneous. I know you aren't. Christ sake, your culture is the most invasive in the world, I can't fail to know. But how non-homogeneous are you? State to state I get that. But county to county, town to town? Does Bumfuck Montana think sister fucking is okay but the next town over, WeloveJesus Montana think that sex should only be between married couples over thirty years of age, with the lights off and their Minister in the room? Do they both frown on drug use? Murder? Theft?

[Gallstones]

I said all along that states should have their police. I've also said that I don't get the point of county and town police. Or highway police for that matter. Can't state police drive on the highways? Would having to learn the Highway Code overheat their brains?

I've also never said that Americans are homogeneous. I know you aren't. Christ sake, your culture is the most invasive in the world, I can't fail to know. But how non-homogeneous are you? State to state I get that. But county to county, town to town? Does Bumfuck Montana think sister fucking is okay but the next town over, WeloveJesus Montana think that sex should only be between married couples over thirty years of age, with the lights off and their Minister in the room? Do they both frown on drug use? Murder? Theft?

Wait, stop.
We have city cops which are the same as county cops because a person pays their property taxes to the county.
We have state highway patrol.
We have federal Fish and Game et al.

And then the FBI.

Bumfuck Montana? Now you are being gratuitously insulting.
FYI, there is no We Love Jesus, Montana. People pretty much mind their own business. Read some of my comments about this.

You know nothing about us at all.

[Adenosine]

I said all along that states should have their police. I've also said that I don't get the point of county and town police. Or highway police for that matter. Can't state police drive on the highways? Would having to learn the Highway Code overheat their brains?

I've also never said that Americans are homogeneous. I know you aren't. Christ sake, your culture is the most invasive in the world, I can't fail to know. But how non-homogeneous are you? State to state I get that. But county to county, town to town? Does Bumfuck Montana think sister fucking is okay but the next town over, WeloveJesus Montana think that sex should only be between married couples over thirty years of age, with the lights off and their Minister in the room? Do they both frown on drug use? Murder? Theft?

Wait, stop.
We have city cops which are the same as county cops because a person pays their property taxes to the county.
We have state highway patrol.
We have federal Fish and Game et al.

And then the FBI.

Bumfuck Montana? Now you are being gratuitously insulting.
FYI, there is no We Love Jesus, Montana. People pretty much mind their own business. Read some of my comments about this.

You know nothing about us at all.

No, I'm not being gratuitously insulting, you're being gratuitously humourless. It's obvious you take Montana very seriously so I'll hold the humour.

Okay, so you have just city cops also known as county cops. Good for you. There are other parts of America, LA for instance, that has city and county cops. And of course state cops. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_enforc ... _of_police If you don't like it you can edit that page to make it more suitable to your lived experience.

Also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billings_Police_Department

http://ci.billings.mt.us/index.aspx?nid=101

http://www.co.yellowstone.mt.gov/Sheriff/

But then, I know nothing about you at all.

Great, now I have lung cancer.

Crap, included humour. Sorry.