Sadly, Tough On Crime™ always plays well in elections, even for Democrats. It’s part of what propelled Eric Adams into the mayor’s office in NYC. The previous administration had instituted bail reform and a few other good changes, and then crime went up, largely because of COVID but it’s hard to convince people of that, so Adams ran on being Tough On Crime™ and undoing all that, and it worked. It’s really frustrating. And if you all think this is bad, I’m telling you, you have no idea. I don’t know how anyone who goes to law school in the US, and takes a class in Criminal Procedure, doesn’t come out a radical leftist. Our justice system is really fucking broken, especially when it comes to POC.
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One part that’s almost always missing from the equation is actually spending the money to make prisons into places where people leave as better human beings than they were when they went in. Education. Job training. Rehab. Counseling. Enough independence and responsibility to let prisoners practice building the habits they’ll need to succeed once they get back out into the world.
That would obviously be a tremendous investment, especially in a country with such an insane incarceration rate. But it’s a necessary one if we want things to get better.
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Yeah, but anytime some politician suggests doing that, their opponent in the next election will accuse them of being Soft On Crime™, and it’s a remarkably effective strategy. And people will complain about criminals getting a free education. “Nobody paid for my education! And I’m not a criminal! They’re getting treated better than we are!” I mean, it’s not like no one has ever suggested those things. Or even tried them. They have. And they work, when they’re actually given time. But they rarely are. Because stupid marketing works.
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I would hazard a guess this has something to do with the US’ brand of religious inclination. They prefer the old testament style of punishment, maximum suffering and cruelty.
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He was the eleventh. 
The injustice hurts me.
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Can’t just blame religion for this issue. The US was the home of the “Penitentiary Movement” of the early 19th century, which was fairly progressive for its day because it focused on concepts like reflection and rehabilitation rather than strictly on punishment. As the name “Penitentiary” implies, there was a religious backing behind this idea.
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I can name, without looking it up, four men wrongly accused of murder in Canada during my lifetime, some of whom spent decades in prison before being exonerated. Guaranteed there were others.
If Canada had the death penalty, they would have long been in their graves, remembered only as monsters.
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I saw this curse earlier today: “May your ass be eternally itchy,and your arms too short to scratch it.”
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As of this evening Adams may want to rethink that “let’s throw the book at criminals” policy.
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Every year and as much as possible if you’re an ambitious DA in a big city and got your eye on being the mayor—at least.
The rules are different for important people. Donald Trump can still campaign on “law and order” despite being a convicted criminal.
Yeah, I saw that last night. I wanted to throw a party, lol. And of course, he’s already using the Trump playbook and crying “They’re all out to get me!”
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