Prison solutions have price tags
Montgomery Advertiser
Editorial
It is hard to imagine that there is anything Alabama's political leadership does not already know about the state's prison problems -- except how they propose to address them. The chronic overcrowding of the system has been studied and discussed for years.
Now another task force has begun a year-long inquiry into the prison problems with the objective of making recommendations to Gov. Bob Riley. It is difficult to see what new ground this panel might break in this oft- examined area of state responsibility.
more...
Editorial
It is hard to imagine that there is anything Alabama's political leadership does not already know about the state's prison problems -- except how they propose to address them. The chronic overcrowding of the system has been studied and discussed for years.
Now another task force has begun a year-long inquiry into the prison problems with the objective of making recommendations to Gov. Bob Riley. It is difficult to see what new ground this panel might break in this oft- examined area of state responsibility.
more...
posted by Terry at
7:10 AM
1 Comments:
The following is an LTE that I wrote last year about this issue that the Montgomery Advertiser printed.
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1632/a06.html
Newshawk: chip
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Wed, 15 Oct 2003
Source: Montgomery Advertiser (AL)
Copyright: 2003sThe Advertiser Co.
Contact: pmoore@montgome.gannett.com
Website: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1088
Author: Loretta Nall
INCARCERATION CAN'T BE CURE
As a drug law reform advocate, I am very pleased that non-violent drug offenders will soon be released from Alabama's overcrowded and violent prison system. However, this is equivalent to putting a Band-Aid on an open jugular.
Despite the fact that Alabama has some of the harshest drug laws in the nation, it is painfully obvious that they are not acting as a deterrent. What is the state going to do to keep non-violent drug offenders from refilling the prison system?
If we leave drug laws the way they are, it is inevitable that a lot of the same people being released will soon find themselves back in prison. Substance abuse is a health problem and not a judicial one. You cannot incarcerate your way out of it.
I suggest we change the laws -- starting with marijuana. We need to remove all criminal penalties for responsible adult use. Many of the people in prison for non-violent drug offenses are there for possessing, smoking, growing or selling marijuana.
While marijuana has never killed anyone, people die every day in the unjustified war against it. What is the moral basis for persecuting, incarcerating and killing a non-violent segment of society because of what they choose to ingest?
Loretta Nall
Alexander City
By
Loretta Nall, at 7:23 AM
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