[Zelphyr]

I have an uncle that spent the better part of a decade in prison because of our idiotic drug laws. While he was in he learned coding (DBase if I recall--it was still popular at the time). He never used it after he got out. Why not? He has a marketable skill now, right? Sure. But nobody wants to hire an ex-con regardless of their skill.

I think projects like this are great but we also need to address the problem of being able to find a job for these guys after they get out.

Or, you know; get rid of the drug laws that put him there in the first place.

[Nicholas_C]

>I think projects like this are great but we also need to address the problem of being able to find a job for these guys after they get out.

Amen. This is a huge problem and probably a huge part of why recidivism rates are so high. If you can't get a job out of prison and you're low on money it's really easy to get your old drug/weed guy to front goods for you to sell. Instant cash, work on your own time, no background checks, work that is probably more exciting and interesting.

Huge sentencing reform is needed and I encourage everyone to get active or at least put your ear to the ground about it. A great source of info is the Sentencing Project[0]. They send out e-mails regarding the status of reform in different states and other general current events and information.

[0] http://www.sentencingproject.org/template/index.cfm

[mschuster91]

You'd not even need a sentencing reform to improve the chances of getting a job.

Cash incentives (e.g. state pays 50% of the income of the employee for a year or two) for employers can be a much better starting point. Or educating prisoners e.g. to become licensed electricians, plumbers, ... like in Germany and then helping them to start their own business when out of jail.

But the US system seems like focused 100% on punishment and generating revenue for private prisons, so I highly doubt this will ever be introduced - there's simply too much money at stake when former inmates actually rehabilitate.

[atmosx]

Private prisons? That's a nice touch! Out of curiosity, how does a private prison work? I mean the client is the state or say (if a con has money) I can do his time in private prison with a PS-4, regular medical examinations, internet access (probably monitored), etc.?

Not that it's bad to have civilized prisons, but I'm curious how a private prison operates.

[maxerickson]

Yes, the client would be the US government or state. Private prisons hold about 8% of prisoners in the US, during 2013 the number of prisoners in private facilities declined by 3%.

Numbers from here:

http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/ascii/p13.txt

There are some other problems with perverse incentives in the US incarceration system (businesses are allowed to employ prisoners at low wages), but the "it's all about private prisons" narrative isn't really backed up by the numbers.

If you look at the sort of crimes that people end up getting put into prison for, at least statistically, they aren't Myspace comments.

[mschuster91]

> If you look at the sort of crimes that people end up getting put into prison for, at least statistically, they aren't Myspace comments.

Mostly drug-related stuff, especially victimless crimes such as pure possession without intent to distribute... while Myspace or other cyberbullying can certainly be jail-worthy, a shitload of US prisoners are in for drugs.

imho, the US and every other country in this world should end the "War on Drugs". It has undeniably failed, and costs taxpayers everywhere billions of dollars, in addition to the hundreds of thousands of lives lost alone in Mexico...

[maxerickson]

I don't see a handy possession vs distribution summary, but look here for the types of cases that get prosecuted for trafficking:

http://isb.ussc.gov/content/pentaho-cdf/RenderXCDF?solution=...

The typical federal marijuana trafficking prosecution involves possession of 10 kilos (the small number of cases involving less than that averaged 4 kilos). The numbers for crack and meth are smaller, but there is still a pretty clear line at 'dozens of doses'.

I'm not sure I understand it correctly, but this graph seems to say that the majority of people sentenced under drug guidelines are convicted of some other crime. So apparently they are committing other crimes while in possession of drugs:

http://isb.ussc.gov/content/pentaho-cdf/RenderXCDF?solution=...

And then the majority of "pure drug cases" actually do involve trafficking, which the data above indicates usually involves substantial quantities.

Nothing I've said is an argument in favor of the war on drugs.

[mschuster91]

Nah, government is the client. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prison for details.

Of course, this system is very easy to game - in one scandal, judges were bribed by prison operators in order to send kids to jail for stuff like "mocking a principal on myspace". See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_for_cash_scandal for one of these.

Of course, putting kids in jail for stupid myspace comments will make them responsible adults cough...