Kudos to Jim Webb

[mumpish]

I've long been concerned about America's drug policy, its incarceration rate, and the brutality of the prison system. I'm very encouraged to see that a major politician is taking the issue seriously. Choice quotes:

. In 1980, we had 41,000 drug offenders in prison; today we have more than 500,000, an increase of 1,200%. The blue disks represent

Comments

[notgruntled]

In 2006, Sen. Sam Brownbeck (R-Kan.) launched his presidential campaign by spending the night in Louisiana's Angola State Prison, one of the most notorious in the country. I agree with Brownback on fewer issues than I do Webb, but I have to salute them both for at least trying to put prison reform -- and the related folly of treating addiction, a public health problem, as a criminal justice problem -- on the national radar.

[quandry]

While I do agree that drug use/possession is a terrible reason to lock someone up, I'm don't excuse "related" offenses (stealing, vandalism, etc) even if they are nonviolent. If you're a thief you should face justice, no matter what your reasons.

That being said, you're completely right that prisoners shouldn't be raped. In fact, I'm willing to bet that on a purely practical level, we could reduce recidivism rates if we reduced the terrible emotional trauma of prison (not just the rapes, but all the violence that makes people fear for their life while in prison).