http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/11/damn_lies_shenanigans_to_stop_drug_bette
Proposition 5 was on the ballot for California this weeks election. Although it did not pass, this was a wonderful attempt at reducing the prison population. As the article outlines, the proposition would give more money to drug rehabilitation programs and crime prevention programs to hopefully rehabilitate rather than merely punish and incarcerate.
This article presented both sides of issue however the argument against the proposition was at the end of the article and left a sour taste in the reader’s mouth. Also, the argument for the proposition was not as strong as the argument against in terms of how it was presented. This article was published in the Los Angeles Times, which is a huge news source for many people in California.
The argument against the proposition is that it will actually increase crime rates. They say that this proposition would allow for the sate to be more lenient on crime and especially drug offenders who are “selling and distributing drugs to our children” they say that more people would become drug dealers because the state would not prosecute them as hard. However, this is not necessarily true and evidence for this has been supported and shown in the second article.
Finally, the group that was most invested in this proposition failing was the people and companies involved and invested in the California Prison Industrial Complex. “All the key players [in the California prison industrial complex] are insulated from any critical feedback and they are all feeding off each other, each getting more bloated with more power and money,” Nadelmann says. “In each case it is going to be citizens and tax payers who bear the brunt of the burden of government’s irresponsibility.” (thestranger.com)
1 comment:
The prison industrial complex is a tricky thing. In my blog I am writing about a similar topic, but I have not done any research on proposition 5 in California, so this is a very interesting topic for me to get a chance to comment one. Lowering the populations in prison would be a very good thing to do, not only are we over crowding out prison systems, but because of the overcrowding prisoners are living in unclean environments and being forced to work for a very low wage if anything at all. The opportunity that the proposition 5 gave was the chance to change that prison population through different rules and regulations, and although it was not passed it brought more attention towards the problem, bringing a solution closer to happening, which I feel is a very good thing.
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