A few months back, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled a plan to decrease the population of the Rikers Island jail complex by reducing the backlog of cases in state courts. About 85% of those at Rikers haven't been convicted of any offense; they're just awaiting trial, sometimes for as long as hundreds of days. Usually, it is because they cannot afford bail.
First thing that needs to be done to solve this problem is the legalization of drugs. Let all the drug offenders and addicts out and back into society. What they have is a medical problem. It should not be treated criminally. We would see a drop in budget spending all over the country if they stopped the war on drugs.
"We have more people in prison than any other country in the world."
It is just ridiculous that we’re locking people up because they don’t have the means to get out of jail. Once we lock them up, they become wards of the state and paid for by our tax dollars.
This is the United States of America; it supposed to be the home of the brave and land of the free. Yet, we have more people in prison than any other country in the world. How could that possibly be?
-Jesse Ventura
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