Jess Rigelhaupt: Mass incarceration hasn't made us safer

By Jess Rigelhaupt

The Free Lance-star

Published: Sunday, April 22 2012 12:00 a.m. MDT

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Summary

The current political debates in the lead up to the 2012 presidential election should focus our attention on the need to reconsider prisons and criminal justice policy. The United States is the largest jailer in the world. With more than 2.3 million people behind bars, it has an unrivaled incarceration rate. One in 100 adults is locked up: The incarceration rate is 750 per 100,000 residents.

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Roland Kayser

Cottonwood Heights, UT

I agree that the war on drugs has been fought in a way that has been disproportionately punitive for African-Americans. I agree that much of the war on drugs, especially the war on marijuana has been ill advised. But since we instituted tough on More..

8:36 a.m. April 22, 2012
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Hutterite

American Fork, UT

We believe in punishment, not rehabilitation. So we punish people and put them back on the street, and wonder why they end up back in jail.

9:12 a.m. April 22, 2012
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Midvaliean

MIDVALE, UT

@Thinkin Man
By his logic not all in prison deserve to be there and we are wasting huge sums of money incarcerating drug offences.
And yes, that man is making money off his thinking, too bad we don't pay more people like him.

11:55 a.m. April 22, 2012
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