Are We All Criminals?

In an article of the Philadelphia Daily news on April 20, 2009, it was reported that a new report has been released stating that in the United States, one adult out of 31 is in the correctional system. They are either in prison, jail or on probation or parole. That is a frightening 7.3 million adults. That does not even include the juveniles.

It has been suggested that putting people in prison is not solving the problem of crime. Prison costs are rapidly growing and now cost more than any other government service in the country, except Medicaid. Four times more mentally ill people are housed in prison than are in hospitals.

We have made prison a revolving door system with it’s ongoing games of plea bargains, and FELONY labels that assure returns to prison on violations that would not even had been considered a crime years ago.

Is it no wonder that our economy is crumbling? Prison is Americas largest profit making industry. We recycle people into the criminal justice system faster than they can pick themselves up and get rehabilitated. Prison has become a system of warehousing the poor, mentally ill, and NON-violent offenders liken into SLAVE CAMPS.