Three-strikes law causing pricey glut of lifers without parole

[mitty14u2]

Source: Al Jazeera

Three-strikes law causing pricey glut of lifers without parole

“I just remember saying, ‘My God, how am I going to survive?’” he said. “I don’t care how tough you are, there’s always someone tougher in prison.”

He was arrested at 31 and spent more than a year in jail before being sentenced to life without parole under Washington state’s persistent-offender law — more commonly referred to as the three-strikes law. When he was growing up, getting arrested wasn’t something he feared — it was just part of life.

Bartley, who had previously committed a second-degree robbery and a second-degree assault, finally earned his third strike and life sentence in 1998 for his participation in a string of robberies. That guy — the one who demanded that people give him their money — needed to be behind bars. Bartley admits prison was probably the only thing that could have forced him out of his crack addiction and street-crime lifestyle.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/12/12/three-strikes-lawcausingglutofliferswithoutparole.html

Read more: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/12/12/three-strikes-lawcausingglutofliferswithoutparole.html

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Prison Stock 'That's Hot' (CXW, GEO)

In 2006, the number of people incarcerated in state or federal correctional facilities grew by approximately 42,000 people to 1.6 million. The largest increase since 2000.

In Washington, it costs more than $32,000 per year to house just one offender,

http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2007/prison_stock_thats_hot_cxw_geo.aspx

Mans inhumanity to man.

In 2006, the number of people incarcerated in state or federal correctional facilities grew by approximately 42,000 people to 1.6 million.

By 2012 - 6.98 million men and women are under correctional supervision. A
total of 4.8 million individuals are monitored in the community on probation
and parole and 2.2 million are incarcerated in prisons or jail.

http://sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/sen_State%20of%20Sentencing%202012.pdf

[mikeysnot]

1. United States of Prisons.

In the land of the free.

[madrchsod]

2. invest now!

corporate prisons are the newest growth industry!

[pipoman]

3. Mixed feelings about 3 strikes laws

The civil liberation in me disagrees with the concept. .the analytical in me sees the overall reductions in crime which coincides the adoption of 3 strikes laws. .

[mitty14u2]

5. Greed and profit is more important then logic, I am astounded!

So you are saying spending $32 Grand a year on Incarceration is better then spending Tax Payer Dollars on better Education or Drug Rehab and Mental Health or even JOBS. Your Logic is Astounding!

[pipoman]

8. Where pray tell did I say anything

Which even vaguely resembles any of this gibberish?

[Plucketeer]

9. I'm not defending our incarceration rate

but HOW DO YOU weigh that $32,000 dollars against repeated hold-ups and burglaries and other crimes? Are those incidents without cost? When some guy points a gun at me and demands my wallet - should I hand it over happily, knowing that it's the better deal than having taxpayers fund his living expenses???

[mitty14u2]

11. Majority of private prison contracts demand taxpayer-backed lockup quotas

The majority of contracts between local US governments and for-profit prisons require “lockup quotas” and “low crime taxes,” according to a new report.

The report, which was released by In the Public Interest, states that 62 percent of private prison contracts studied by the group require states to keep 80 to 100 percent of prison beds occupied. It also revealed that taxpayers compensate the private companies if the number of prisoners falls below the quota – a policy which guarantees profit within the mass incarceration industry.

For instance, when Colorado did not meet its lockup quotas due to dropping crime rates, the state had to pay $2mn based on its contract with the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) - one of America’s largest private prison companies.

http://rt.com/usa/private-prison-lockup-quota-108/

Back to Logic and hard concept for some?

So you are saying spending $32 Grand a year on Incarceration is better then spending Tax Payer Dollars on better Education or Drug Rehab and Mental Health or even JOBS. Your Logic is Astounding!

[Plucketeer]

13. You've obviously forgotten who has control of the purse-strings

We've got LEGIONS of well-educated folks working menial jobs because there aren't any jobs worthy of their learnin'. And there won't BE any jobs they're worthy of until we stop sending them to cheap labor markets. THAT'S the heart of this problem. And since the populace of this nation continues to want to obligingly shack off their nose to spite their faces, that brings us back to whether we spend $32K a year per inmate or just accept their criminal acts as inconveniences we have to live with. Your ideas are great when the pond's full. But when it's dried to where it's one overcrowded puddle - tell me about immediate relief. And consider there's NO precipitation in the forecast.

[Chakab]

14. There is no such correlation between three strikes laws and the overall drop in crime.

That's as fallacious as stop-and-frisk being credited with the dip in crime rate in NYC.

Crime is down across the board and it has fallen the same way in states that don't have habitual offender laws. Additionally, the crime rate started to drop before most of the current habitual offender laws came into effect in the mid-90s.

It's mind-boggling how much RW propaganda people buy into on this forum. I guess repetition without challenge really does work.

[SharonAnn]

16. It also coincides with the reduction in lead in gasoline and in with the Roe v Wade ruling.

Also coincides with the decline in birth rates post baby-boom.

Correlation? or Causation?

[alcibiades_mystery]

4. Life without parole should be reserved for the worst of the worst

Manson types. The Green River Killer. That type of shit.

Instead, they hand it out like candy now.

It's ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

[1StrongBlackMan]

12. I disagree ...

there should NEVER be a sentence of Life W/O possibility of parole, even for the worst of the worst. As the research indicates, the vast majority of inmates age out of criminality, so long as there is a reason to do so.

The parole mechanism, while not perfect, requires a demonstration of rehabilitation and likelihood to success in transitioning into society.

[rrneck]

6. It's a guaranteed revenue stream.

Waaaay better than a tranche of sub prime loans.

[olddad56]

7. not to mention job security for all of the guards and staff.

[PSPS]

10. Idiotic notion: Criminology is just like a baseball game.

[badbob]

15. Crime rate decrease

is caused by aging out - the boomers are getting too old to do the crime or as much of the time - watch for the rate to start increasing as the overall population gets younger and in their prime doing age