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The answer is "everyone." * The people who elected "tough on crime" DAs and politicians. * The DAs who got every conviction they could and the harshest senten
by debacle 11y ago
The answer is "everyone."
* The people who elected "tough on crime" DAs and politicians.
* The DAs who got every conviction they could and the harshest sentencing possible to show how they're "cleaning up the streets."
* The politicians who voted for mandatory minimum sentencing.
* The judges for being punitive rather than rehabilitative.
* The media for painting a very distorted picture of modern America.
The US is never going to fix itself as long as it continues to be a culture of fear, blame, hate, and ignorance.
- coldcode 11y agoThis is the most sane comment yet. As a society we get what we ask/vote/don't vote for.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- mc32 11y agoPretty much, yes, everyone. But the years of just say no and imprisonment favored over treatment for drugs use, surely did not help. Some exacerbating reasons is that politicians and the people they represent get to regulate sentencing rather than social scientists and criminologists, so you get people scared by drug addiction wanting to keep it from getting to their kids driving the general sentiment. I understand people in a democracy want control of their social fate, but, in many cases level headed reason based on studies and good policy would be better. I'm glad were having a moment of sanity when it comes to drugs, addiction, and law. And lest it not be clear, most people of all ethnicities who saw drugs as a plague saw jailing of offenders as the primary solution to the problem. That's to say people of few means but able to avoid the drugs issue also saw this as a law and order get them off the streets issue --in some ways because it was the only answer available.