Here’s the Truth Regarding Complaints About the U.S.’s High Incarceration Rate
Some good points below but we are not allowed to mention how many of the incarcerated are black. If you broke out the figures for whites only the incarceration rate in America would be far lower and less out of line with other countries. Per head, America's crime problem is mainly black
Progressives have complained about high incarceration rates in the U.S. for years, but conservatives are finally being forced to address the problem as well, due to the left coming after them with politically motivated prosecutions. The U.S. has the sixth highest incarceration rate in the world, after El Salvador, Cuba, Rwanda, Turkmenistan and American Samoa.
While superficially it sounds great to stop incarcerating drug users, the full picture is far more complicated. No one was ever sentenced to jail for marijuana; the main type of “drug user” that is incarcerated is a hard drugs dealer who also engaged in violence. CNN hysterically claimed in a 2016 article that “drug arrests actually increased about 10% from the previous year,” but failed to point out that’s because more drug dealers are being arrested due to the increase in hard drugs like fentanyl coming over the border as a result of the increasingly powerful cartels, not because your neighbor is getting arrested for smoking pot. “Drug abuse” violations sounds like it refers to use, but it includes selling and manufacturing.
While Pew has fairly biased surveys, one fact that crept out of a 2022 report was that between 2009 and 2019, “[t]he numbers of people admitted to and held in state prisons for drug offenses both fell by about a third, accounting for 61% of the overall reduction in prison populations and 38% of the total decline in admissions.” That same report claimed that arrests for drug possession remained almost the same during that time period, but didn’t bother to include any statistics on actual incarceration — because so many who are arrested for mere possession are released quickly after arrest.
What people don’t understand is that due to our porous southern border and huge population, we have one of the biggest influxes of hard drugs coming into the country, and violent crime goes hand in hand with drug dealing. The left likes to pretend that the U.S.’s high crime rate is due to guns, while ignoring the elephant in the room and pretending we’re imprisoning mere drug users.
El Salvador is considered the most violent country in the world, and its gang members are pouring over our borders unchecked by Democratic officials in border states and Democrats running the country. Why are we blaming high rates of crime on sentencing and guns, when it’s the open border policy welcoming the worst criminals in the world here?
According to DOJ statistics, the U.S. prison population decreased by 25% since 2011, but don’t expect to read that in the MSM. The sentencing rate is down 29%. Although blacks have the highest incarceration rate, the percentage of blacks in prison decreased the most among ethnic groups, 40%.
While the incarceration rate has been decreasing, violent crime has been increasing. Philadelphia saw an all-time high of murders in 2021, with 562 murder victims. That is an increase of 12% over 2020 when President Donald Trump was in office. And at least 10 other major cities saw recent historic levels in murders. The Washington Post pointed to the increase occurring after the death of George Floyd, tacitly admitting that the activists who riled people up over the incident stirred them into committing violence. There is a correlation in violent crime increasing close to the time Joe Biden took office with a significant decrease in incarceration.
At the same time, incarceration rates in several other countries are increasing, according to a 2021 report. The prison population in Europe (excluding Russia) increased by 5% since 2000. Excluding the U.S., in the rest of the Americas the total prison population has increased 138%.
A big part of the reason why the U.S. has higher incarceration rates is because violent crimes carry higher penalties here. In the UK, murderers rarely serve a full life term in prison. Many serve fewer than 10 years, and most serve only 10 to 18 years. In contrast, in the U.S., the median time served for murder is 17 years. You don’t hear the MSM bringing that disparity up.
Do we want murderers to serve fewer years in prison, especially considering how high their recidivism rate is? A recent DOJ study found that 10 years after release, 82% of state prisoners had been arrested again — an average of nearly seven arrests each.
One of the reasons the U.S. has such a high incarceration rate is because we stopped hospitalizing much of the mentally ill and drug addicts in the 1960s. The ACLU led successful litigation to stop this practice, so now those troubled people are out on the streets committing crimes. But no one likes to talk about that.
The U.S. has higher rates of mental illness than other developed countries, but lower treatment rates, according to the World Health Organization. Estimates state that over a quarter, 26%, of U.S. adults have a mental illness, about twice the world’s average. According to Human Rights Watch, 60 countries institutionalize their mentally ill, or family members lock them up at home. Denmark, for example, has come under criticism for sharply increasing the number of those institutionalized between 1990 and now. There were over 3,500 institutionalized in 1990, which increased to about 8,500 in 2020.
Banning guns doesn’t seem to have helped the murder rate in other countries. In England and Wales, the most prevalent method of murdering people is with a knife or other sharp object. Shooting makes up only 4% of murders.
The dilemma is whether to continue relaxing sentencing laws in the hopes that it will provide some relief for conservatives wrongly targeted by the left. Unfortunately, laws against violent drug deals don’t overlap very well with amorphous, broad catchall laws used to target conservatives, like RICO and insurrection statutes. Society is going so downhill as progressives take over and dominate so many areas, including the justice system, that it is probably naive to hope there is some correlation that can benefit conservatives.
********************************************
Progressives appeal to base emotions
It's not just envy that drives them. It is hate generally
Lionel Shriver
After all the identitarian left’s defence of peoples historically wronged, all their horror of the ‘violence’ in silence or biologically correct pronouns, all their advancement of ‘diversity and inclusion’ – which you would suppose would encompass all religions and all minorities, especially the persecuted ones – ghoulish celebrations of Hamas’s throat-slitting melee in southern Israel last month among some western ‘progressives’ were incomprehensible at first. But on reflection, the BLM brigade joining the ghastly Muslim chant of ‘Glory to our martyrs’ makes perfect sense.
Does this clamorous crowd seem happy? Are they enraptured by visions of a better world?
Let’s put aside the numbing jargon of this movement, and let’s put aside its dogma. I’m a novelist, and literary writers do deal in language and ideas, but most of all we deal in feelings. So never mind what they say or what they claim to believe. What emotions emanate from Hamas’s ‘useful idiots’? Does this clamorous crowd seem happy? Are they enraptured by visions of a better world? Given that the hard left’s rhetoric gestures (if condescendingly) towards the uplifting of the downtrodden, do its activists exude kindness, tenderness and compassion? Are they visibly bursting with love for their fellow man? Do we see the gleam of a radiant future glinting in their puppy-wide eyes?
Like many Speccie readers, I’ve followed the ‘culture wars’ closely for years, so to cheerfully overgeneralise – or simply to generalise – let’s itemise the emotions that overwhelmingly preponderate identitarians’ marches, oratory and screeds.
Free-floating fury – though exactly what they’re so angry about is a bit obscure. Anger does have an energising side, but it’s corrosive. Anger is a battery acid that eats you up.
Hatred. Beware folks who ceaselessly decry ‘hate’ while as ceaselessly spewing antipathy themselves, whether despising ‘white supremacists’, another name for ‘white people’, or ‘Israeli colonisers’, another name for ‘Jews’.
Vengefulness – which has a certain crude logic when manifested in minorities who feel hard done by, although many of the shrillest minority voices on university campuses hail from prosperous families. Opportunistic advocates of Critical Race Theory such as Ibram X. Kendi have done terribly well for themselves. Vengeance for what, then? Ditto affluent white wokesters: where’s the beef? A thirst for vengeance runs contrary to a desire for a better world, which would certainly involve less vengeance.
Resentment. Younger generations are bludgeoned with doom. They will never own property. They will be replaced by AI. The Earth will erupt into a giant fireball within their lifetimes. They will be poorer than their parents. Besides, people of all ages are often tortured by the suspicion that others out there are leading more satisfying lives than theirs. But resentment just sits there. It doesn’t improve matters. It’s a befouling, inert sensation, akin to the experience of lying in your own excrement and never changing the sheets.
Mercilessness. This unforgiving movement is Old Testament. It’s all damnation without redemption. The public apology simply invites a greater pile-on. And it believes in predestination: if your skin is on the pale side, you’re going to hell.
Aggressiveness. They’re bullies.
Cynicism, if not nihilism. Traditionally, the left was naively utopian. This left is apocalyptic. No sunlit uplands await, once we’re all anti-racists who accept there are 3,042 ‘genders’ and counting. Rather, modern progressivism needs racism to have purpose, so will invent prejudice where none exists if need be; ‘systemic racism’ is gloriously ineradicable. Even climate fanatics don’t believe net zero will succeed. They’re in thrall to a pending holocaust of humanity, which they seem to be looking forward to.
Sadism. The sole positive emotion these people evidence is delight in ruining the lives of others. ‘Cancel culture’ is a blood sport.
All these emotions are dark. This is a movement without humour and without joy. It is anti-everything and pro-zilch (the emotion driving support for Palestine is loathing for Israel). No wonder it’s in league with Hamas. It’s anti-life.
In a recent appearance, I submitted guiltily that my boomer generation may have originated identity politics, and a woman about my age objected to me afterwards: ‘But we weren’t like that!’
I took her point. The difference? We had fun. We had great music. We took drugs, to further exoticise the exhilaration of being alive. Yes, we went to protests. Yes, we were intoxicated by self-righteousness. Fancying ourselves mavericks, we were also conformists, in uniforms of beads and bell-bottoms. We said lots of stupid stuff. I declared at dinner at 14 that the entire US Defense Department should be eliminated, and even my peacenik parents chorused: ‘Well, I don’t know about that!’ In America, it was a time of farcical foolishness and unfeasible idealism mixed with the well-founded fear that you or your brother would land in Vietnam and genuine grief over the assassinations of Martin Luther King and RFK. Yet the largely unserious revolutionism of the 1960s was buoyant, exuberant, upbeat. The lingo was goofy but ebullient: groovy, far out, sock it to me, baby!, which sure beats rape culture and heteronormativity. Whatever our vague intention to transform the future, we were bent on having a good time in the present.
As a rule, note not merely what activists assert, but which emotions infuse the message. This latest iteration of Elvis Costello’s ‘peace, love and understanding’ is bleak. It’s a hostile, vicious, dismal and destructive gestalt with no vision of some resplendent new world that will rise from the ashes. Relishing the beheading of babies fits right in.
Got something to add? Join the discussion and co
https://www.spectator.com.au/2023/11/progressives-appeal-to-base-emotions/
*******************************************It's Simple Why No Arab Countries Are Taking Palestinian Refugees. They Know Better
When Israel began conducting airstrikes in Gaza, everyone knew there was going to be displacement. The military operation comes after Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, murdering 1,200-1,400 civilians in a coordinated assault involving well over 1,000 terrorists. The level of barbarity was unprecedented, leading to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forming a unity government that aims to destroy Hamas. On October 28, the ground invasion began, leading to scores of Palestinians attempting to make their way south to safety. Hamas shot some who tried to flee.
As the Left rages against Israel, hurling antisemitic slurs and chanting for more Jews to die, some might want to consider why the civilians have nowhere to go. Okay, maybe these folks do know but don’t care, but liberals are historically illiterate, so who knows? It goes beyond geography. The Palestinians bring trouble and have a long, sordid history of fomenting mayhem and terrorism in other Arab nations.
Egypt is the logical destination for these Palestinians, but Cairo doesn’t want them, and for good reason: terrorism. The border crossing at Rafah remains closed, with tanks now deployed to ensure their border is secure. Egypt’s prime minister even said his country is willing to sacrifice millions to ensure no Palestinians ever enter Egypt en masse (via WSJ):
If Hamas cared about Palestinian civilians, it would encourage them to leave Gaza. But instead it is demanding that they remain. The terror group intends to use its own people and the hostages it abducted from Israel as human shields. Their hope is that either Israeli concern about causing collateral damage or global opprobrium will force Israel to scale back its counter-invasion.
Egypt is the only place to which Gaza’s civilians can flee for now. Yet Cairo insists on maintaining its strict quota for entries from Gaza via the Rafah crossing—with only 800 able to leave on Monday, and the crossing reportedly closed in recent days.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi bears no warm feelings toward Hamas, which is allied with the Muslim Brotherhood that tried to impose an Islamist regime in his country not too long ago. He’s concerned that Hamas terrorists might slip across the border into Egypt with a tide of civilians.
One way to reduce that possibility would be to house refugees in camps while they’re vetted for Hamas ties. The rest of the world should support a United Nations effort to help. But taking on this practical and financial burden is a risk Mr. Sisi may not want to take two months before Egypt holds what pass for elections there.
The timing is bad for Mr. Sisi, but unless he budges Egypt will become partly responsible for what could become a terrible humanitarian crisis—and that’s if Israel succeeds in rooting out Hamas. If Hamas’s strategy succeeds and Israel is forced by international pressure to scale back its defensive operations, Egypt will have to live with an entrenched and emboldened Hamas on the other side of the Rafah crossing.
If Hamas and the Palestinians aren’t freely moving into Egypt, they’ll be okay with it. Also, Israel has resisted ceasefires and has continued to chip away at the terror group’s infrastructure in Gaza, but a humanitarian crisis could still emerge.
As the tweet above mentioned, the Palestinians tried to take over Jordan in the 1970s, leading to the late King Hussein declaring war on them and driving them out. They were booted from Kuwait after collaborating with Saddam Hussein’s forces before the Gulf War. They set off a powder keg in Lebanon, a nation that has yet to recover from its brutal civil war that lasted 15 years. No Arab country wants these people because they bring instability and trouble. They’re not importing terrorism; that’s what we’re doing wholesale.
*******************************************************
Local government Christophobia
A Texas church is suing the local government, claiming that “illegal excessive” fees to install a water tap violate the U.S. Constitution and the state’s religious freedom law.
First Liberty Institute, a legal organization focused on religious liberty, and King & Spalding LLP, an international law firm, filed the lawsuit Wednesday against Southern Montgomery County Municipal Utility District on behalf of Grace Community Church in The Woodlands, Texas.
“The county’s water tap fee scheme is a thinly veiled illegal property tax on Grace Community Church,” Jeremy Dys, senior counsel at First Liberty Institute, told The Daily Signal in an emailed statement Thursday. “Local governments like Montgomery County, in search of new revenue, are illegally targeting churches and other non-profits with similar schemes.”
The district initially told the church that labor and materials would cost $24,900 to connect to the water line. Later, the church asked the district to install the water tap, which the district said would cost $61,500, which is much higher than the actual cost. The church challenged the cost because of its tax-exempt status, at which point the district countered with a tap fee of $147,938, more than doubling the prior fee. Eventually, the church had no choice but to pay the fees.
“No government agency should impose a ‘fee-in-lieu-of-taxes’ against faith-based entities,” Dys told The Daily Signal. “What we see now is merely an effort to generate revenue by those the State of Texas have protected against taxation because of the tremendous good they do in the community.”
Dys said the church had not heard of any other complaints about the district placing illegal fees on any other entities.
“To be clear, there is no dispute that Grace should pay and is willing to pay tap fees reflecting the district’s actual costs to install a water tap and provide service to Grace,” the church writes in the lawsuit’s preliminary statement.
The district is instructing Grace Community Church to pay additional fees that aren’t related to the water tap or any service provided, and the district “admits as much,” according to the preliminary statement.
The church is making three legal claims against the district: that the district violated the Texas water code, that the district violated the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and that the district violated the free exercise clause in the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, incorporated to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.
“A party that pays unlawful taxes or fees to a governmental entity under duress may recover those fees” under the Texas water code, the lawsuit notes.
The lawsuit claims that the district violated the Texas religious freedom act by placing “a real and substantial burden on Grace’s and its members’ free exercise of religion.”
The suit also claims that the district’s move “restricts Grace’s ability to provide services tied to the central tenants of Grace’s and its members’ faith,” in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
Dys told The Daily Signal that he is hopeful Grace Community Church will triumph in this lawsuit.
“Churches like Grace Community are important parts of the communities they serve,” Craig Stanfield, a partner in the firm of King & Spalding, said in a statement on the lawsuit. “The resources of churches are best used in fulfilling their mission to serve their congregations and communities, not in paying unlawful taxes. We look forward to securing a refund for Grace Community.”
https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/11/17/local-government-charging-taxes-church-disguised-fees
****************************************My other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs
*****************************************
/>
Kristina Pimenova, once said to be the most beautiful girl in the world. Note blue eyes and blonde hair
Bliss: What every woman wants: to feel safe and secure in the arms of her man. Robert Irwin and Rorie Buckey. See 
No comments:
Post a Comment