[dougmany]

For the lazy:

Pfaff is convinced that aggressive prosecution is the biggest cause of over-incarceration. His argument here is compelling. He notes that while incarceration rates began to climb in the 1980s as a response to rising crime, those trend lines continued through the Nineties, even though crime was steadily falling. Why did that happen? Examining all the relevant variables (crime reports, arrests, charges filed, and convictions), Pfaff found himself looking squarely at the prosecutor’s office. As less crime was reported, arrests dropped proportionately, and among those who were charged with a crime, conviction rates held steady. But prisons continued to fill, because prosecutors were filing felony charges against ever-growing percentages of their dwindling arrestees.

From https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2017/02/20/john-pfaf...

[smokelegend]

I strongly agree, the u.s. criminal justice system needs a overhaul of zealous prosecutors who want to threaten non-violent offenders with felony convictions just to make a name for themselves. Greed is still the primary motive, a young prosecutor knows they can command a 6 or 7 figure salary in the private sector if the have a substantial amount of convictions under their belt. Yes, private prisons are bad, yes prison guard unions and police unions are bad, but prosecutors are equally guilty of the same greed and profit driven motivation... when was the last time you heard a story of a former prosecutor getting unemployment insurance or food stamp assistance? I'll wait...

[t34543]

Look at Philadelphia Krasner. There is recent controversy but his agenda of plea reform is a fantastic start.

[jimclegg]

The change in monetary system caused a cascade of despair.

https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/

[jimclegg]

More specifically here is the incarceration rate change when the monetary system changed.

https://wtfhappenedin1971home.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/in...

PS. Don't downvote me if you don't know economics morons.

[jimclegg]

Something that isn't intuitive about our monetary shift is that as we debase the USD, we also debase the most desperate/marginalized of our population.

It is a feature of our system that is only accelerated by income inequality and labor price suppression.