An article in the NY TImes today informs me that while the United States has only 5% of the world’s population, it has 25% of the world’s incarcerated population. Indeed, 1 in 100 American adults are in prison, and that ratio rises dramatically when applied to minority populations.
At the other end of the list, by the way, is Suriname, with ONE prisoner.
The article points out that when Alexis de Tocqueville visited the U.S. in the nineteenth century, he admired the “mild” practices of the new democratic nation when it came to imprisonment. No longer. The U.S. criminal justice system now hands out more and longer sentences than any other country in the world. Further, most of the people who study these things agree that the longer sentences and higher rate of imprisonment can be directly related to a drop in crime. This leaves the reader with conflicted feelings: is this a good thing or a bad thing?
All of this, ironically, may be because of the peculiarly American and democratic character of our criminal justice system, in which many judges are elected and thus conscious of public opinion. And when has public opinion ever favored going easy on criminals?
But is America more democratic today than it was when Tocqueville came? Does that account for the dramatic rise in imprisonment? I would say not. Instead, the rise in incarceration rates probably reflects an expansion of what our society defines as “criminal.” The article does not say what percentage of the people in our prisons are there on drug related offenses, but I bet it’s high. Real high.
I’m more than willing to support stiff sentences for many crimes, and to follow the logic that this reduces crime, but I think the incredibly high incarceration rate in this country and the exorbitant cost of this situation to the taxpayer demand thought about the ways to mitigate the situation. There is one easy target: the rise in incarceration is undoubtedly related in part to the ridiculous, and ridiculously costly, War on Drugs. This is related directly, as well, to the lamentably common understanding that government is there to save us from ourselves. Instead, we should legalize marijuana, tax it, and free taxpayers from the expense of imprisoning potheads. We should do this on the principle that personal freedom and government power are always at odds, and we should thus be very careful to give government any responsibilities that increase its power. I’ve yet to hear a sound argument for sending the government after these people: gateway drug, increased potential for violent crime…Please, my potential for violent crime increases every time my morning coffee starts to wear off.
Decriminalizing most drug offenses seems like a no-brainer, a silver bullet of sorts. It would alleviate pressure on law enforcement, prison systems, and taxpayers without lessening the beneficial social effects of harsh sentences for violent crime (someone will now argue that drug offenders and violent criminals are the same people…prove that and I’ll recant). It would provide new revenue sources for government, while at the same time lessening government control and increasing personal freedom (and the responsibility of parents, communities, churches, etc).
But it won’t happen.
