With gay marriage decided, what will be the next big left-led social change?

If we decriminalize a bunch of stuff, the problems will go away.

 

I'd be interested to see it broken down by age of release, as well. It's my understanding that people age out of crime at a certain point.

 

#freeshipping

 

Some of them would.

There is still alcoholism, for example. But not too many Al Capones running around murdering people over it.

 

I'm on board with this.

 

I think that's a given. As mentioned earlier, simply releasing prisoners does little to no good if there's no opportunities for them. Of course, that's not the point.

 

You've mentioned that before.

Isn't that an argument for longer prison terms? Keep 'em off the streets until they've "aged out".

When we turn a gang banger loose, while he's still in his prime, isn't he highly likely to reengage in criminal activity?

 

Recidivism rates declined with age. Within five years of release, 84 percent of inmates who were age 24 or younger at release were arrested for a new offense, compared to 79 percent of inmates ages 25 to 39 and 69 percent of those age 40 or older.

 

Let's take a look at what's already happening with the decriminalization of marijuana. Domestic marijuana, even with its higher prices, is more desired that Mexican marijuana.

So, what's happened to the folks who used to smuggle marijuana into the US from Mexico. Have they all gone out of business?

Should I tell you what's happened, do you already know, or do you want to guess?

 

Maybe I'm crazy, but those all sound really high. These are the people we want to let out sooner?

What's that going to do to crime rates, to our court system?

They're going to be right back in jail unless we just stop deciding to send them to jail.

 

Here’s another good idea -- one with bipartisan support in Congress: Let’s reward prisoners with reduced sentences if they complete programs that make them less likely to commit a repeat offense. (Applause.) Let's invest in innovative new approaches to link former prisoners with employers and help them stay on track. Let’s follow the growing number of our states and cities and private companies who have decided to “Ban the Box” on job applications -- (applause) -- so that former prisoners who have done their time and are now trying to get straight with society have a decent shot in a job interview. (Applause.) And if folks have served their time, and they’ve reentered society, they should be able to vote. (Applause.)

Remarks by the President at the NAACP Conference | whitehouse.gov

 

They ARE high. I'm not necessarily a believer in our prison system's "rehabilitative" qualities.

Speaking of "high," the other point I was trying to make was the more important one. If we're talking about drug offenses, a vast majority of (white) drug offenders never see prison time, and many are never even arrested, while almost two-thirds of (black) drug offenders do and are, for an average sentence of almost 5 years.