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While the UK and much of the world struggles with overcrowded prisons, the Netherlands has the opposite problem. It is actually short of people to lock up. In the past few years 19 prisons have closed down and more are slated for closure next year. How has this happened - and why do some people think it's a problem?
...
"In the Dutch service we look at the individual," says Van der Spoel."If somebody has a drug problem we treat their addiction, if they are aggressive we provide anger management, if they have got money problems we give them debt counselling. So we try to remove whatever it was that caused the crime. The inmate himself or herself must be willing to change but our method has been very effective. Over the last 10 years, our work has improved more and more."
He adds that some persistent offenders - known in the trade as "revolving-door criminals" - are eventually given two-year sentences and tailor-made rehabilitation programmes. Fewer than 10% then return to prison after their release. In England and Wales, and in the United States, roughly half of those serving short sentences reoffend within two years, and the figure is often higher for young adults.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Pslytely Psycho on Saturday November 12 2016, @12:41PM
Sometimes the potential penalties for marijuana possession while possessing a legal firearm but not using it, or have it involved in any way other than legally possessing it, have been worse than USING AN ATOMIC WEAPON!
From: Federal Mandatory Minimums List (link is to a PDF) http://famm.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Chart-All-Fed-MMs-NW.pdf [famm.org]
42 USC § 2272(b);
§ 2M6.1
Using, attempting to use, or threatening while possessing, an atomic weapon
2004
30 years
1. Christopher Williams
A Montana medical marijuana provider is facing 82 to 85 years behind bars, due to mandatory minimum laws linked to some of his charges. Convicted of crimes like manufacturing marijuana, intent to distribute and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense, Christopher Williams appeared to be in the for the worst. But in a rare move this September, U.S. Attorney Michael Cotter offered to drop four of Williams’ charges and bring his sentencing down to “as little as 10 years,” so long as Williams waived his right to appeal.
(Williams refused the offer on moral grounds. He ended up with 5 years. They dropped the charges for possessing a legal weapon in an open-carry state.)
2. Will Foster
US Army veteran and business-owner Will Foster was suffering from widespread rheumatoid arthritis when he started growing marijuana. In 1997, Oklahoma police discovered his marijuana garden and just $28 cash after a “confidential informant” helped them procure a “John Doe” search warrant for methamphetamine. His sentence was reduced to 20 years (His original sentence, brace yourself...was 93 years for 50 plants!) and he was paroled to California in 2001. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections was unhappy when Foster completed parole, and attempted to extradite him back to Oklahoma — a fight Foster won.
But in 2008, Foster’s marijuana grow, legal by California standards, was raided. Foster sat in a California jail for a year before local authorities dropped the charges. Unfortunately for Foster, Oklahoma officials showed up at the Calif. jail, shackled Foster and drove him back to Oklahoma, where he remained until he was released in late November 2009. (Cops had a real hard-on for this guy. He ended up in jail for 12 years!)
3. Jonathan Magbie
Jonathan Magbie’s story is a stunning example of the cruelty that can accompany an arrest for medical marijuana. Paralyzed from the neck down after being hit by a drunk driver at the age of four, Magpie was charged with marijuana possession in 2004 after cops found a joint and a (legal) loaded gun in a vehicle (not Jonathan's gun however, he's quadriplegic) in which he was the passenger. Though he had never been convicted of a criminal offense and required medical assistance 20 hours a day, he was given a 10-day sentence in a DC jail. With no ventilator to sustain his breathing, he died in jail four days later. (Death sentence for a fucking JOINT!)
Additions in parenthesis are mine.
I validated each example with several sources, just google name and marijuana convictions, don't want to deal with a bunch of links.
Yep, that's definitely justice.
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Saturday November 12 2016, @12:49PM
I think I got the total on Will fosters total incarceration wrong, I couldn't find an exact total however I think it was only about 8 total, forgot about the parole, it's 5a.m. and I'm stoned.
Damn, I was trying to be accurate...good ganja....
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.