4 ms·

Texas Tribune keeps stats on their state prisons https://www.texastribune.org/library/data/texas-prisons/ https://www.texastribune.org/library/data/texas-prison

Texas Tribune keeps stats on their state prisons https://www.texastribune.org/library/data/texas-prisons/ https://www.texastribune.org/library/data/texas-prisons/ Seems to be mainly robbery, drug possession and drunk driving convictions.

John23832 10y ago
A drunk driving conviction is a drunk driving conviction... I'm ok with that. Especially if it's your 3rd time. I do wonder if there is some cause and effect in play with robberies and the assaults. Being from a poverty stricken area, most of the robberies and assaults I witnessed (in my area) were just from poor people arguing about what little value they have. Or drugs. I also would like to see the drug possessions broken down into type of drug. I suspect marijuana possession is still a large part of that. <1G of weed is different than heroin.
- jacobush 10y ago
  But fuck, life in prison for drunk driving three times? How about foot chain, mandatory visits to parole officer, or prison until convicted is of age 30 and above? (Less recidivism above a certain age.)
  - John23832 10y ago
    This is just my opinion, but if you get two passes for drunk driving and you do it a third time... that's your fault. Also from the data, very few inmates get more than 10-20 for drunk driving. Those are also probably people who have way more than 3 convictions, or have committed egregious drunk driving. We might want to look at what is causing you to drunk drive (addiction, which should be a medical issue and not a legal one), but something should be done after your third time.
    - saiya-jin 10y ago
      hell, I knew US is a effed up police state these days, but even a possibility of life for 3 times driving drunk? that's not western democracy, that's 3rd world fascist dictatorship in a hardcore flavor (FYI, I rarely drink and if yes its max few beers/wine only, would never drive under influence) maybe if you are living daily in such a broken environment it starts to feel more normal, but seriously guys... get a grip and try to come up with something that actually solves problems and not just destroys lives permanently. I don't want to travel to US for same reasons I don't travel to Afghanistan or South Sudan - some good people, but messed up system and you don't want to accidentally see the darker side of it
      - John23832 10y ago
        You didn't look at the stats... You're not getting a life sentence just for driving drunk a third time. You may get one for killing someone (or multiple people) while driving drunk, but not just for driving drunk. Look, I'm left of left, but there should be punishments for negative behavior.
      - kefka 10y ago
        I've really wondered how one can be charged with Drunk Driving. Follow me out on this. I work in Academia. There's signs everywhere about consent. "Women can't give consent when drunk" is the canard. In Indiana, that's not the law. But in many states, that's true. Now, if someone cannot give consent to do something, or sign legal documents, how can it be legal to charge someone with a drunk driving charge? The decision to drive was not based in consent, but instead based in intoxication. Therefore they were not in the right state of mind, either to decide to drive or drive. Then again, I also think that bars with parking lots are a significant issue as well, as it encourages patrons to drive there, drink (possibly to drunk) and then leave in their vehicle.
        Avshalom 10y ago
        It's a question of who is the victim. If I sign away my house while drunk, I'm getting fucked. If I run over you in a car while drunk, you're getting fucked.
- DanBC 10y ago
  It's going to be very much cheaper for taxpayers to just give those people free alcohol rehab.
- ufmace 10y ago
  > A drunk driving conviction is a drunk driving conviction... I'm ok with that. Especially if it's your 3rd time. Near as I can tell, this is basically what the article is about. Our huge prison population is mostly due to extremely harsh sentences for serious crimes, not people with a little bit of weed. If you want a long prison term for some number of DUI convictions, then I hope you're okay with having prison populations much higher than any other first-world country, because they're the same thing. There's no way to cut that number down much without more lenient sentences for DUI, sex crimes, assault, murder, etc.
  - John23832 10y ago
    > If you want a long prison term for some number of DUI convictions, then I hope you're okay with having prison populations much higher than any other first-world country, because they're the same thing. There's no way to cut that number down much without more lenient sentences for DUI, sex crimes, assault, murder, etc. TLDR; Yes, a habitual drunk driver deserves punishment (up to and including jail). -- By sheer numbers, the US will have more convictions for drunk driving due to the vast number of cars. There will be some portion of the population that drives drunk. A portion of that that drives drunk a second time. A portion of that will get a third conviction. So on, so forth. I don't think it is unreasonable to punish someone for a third DUI/DWI conviction. This isn't stop and frisk or police/government overreach. You literally have to drink enough to be over the legal limit (which everyone with a license knows), get in a car, and drive (and honestly it has to be bad enough that you get pulled over for it). You have to then be convicted (probably receive probation and classes) for the first offense. You then have to repeat that a second and third time... That is a series of choices that are made. Why do you think more leniency is needed at that point?
e12e 10y ago
Speaking of statistics, on a related note, The Guardian keeps a tally of people killed by police in the US: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/the-counted-police-killings-us-database https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/... Looks like numbers for January 2017 isn't in yet.

John23832 10y ago

A drunk driving conviction is a drunk driving conviction... I'm ok with that. Especially if it's your 3rd time. I do wonder if there is some cause and effect in play with robberies and the assaults. Being from a poverty stricken area, most of the robberies and assaults I witnessed (in my area) were just from poor people arguing about what little value they have. Or drugs. I also would like to see the drug possessions broken down into type of drug. I suspect marijuana possession is still a large part of that. <1G of weed is different than heroin.

jacobush 10y ago
But fuck, life in prison for drunk driving three times? How about foot chain, mandatory visits to parole officer, or prison until convicted is of age 30 and above? (Less recidivism above a certain age.)
- John23832 10y ago
  This is just my opinion, but if you get two passes for drunk driving and you do it a third time... that's your fault. Also from the data, very few inmates get more than 10-20 for drunk driving. Those are also probably people who have way more than 3 convictions, or have committed egregious drunk driving. We might want to look at what is causing you to drunk drive (addiction, which should be a medical issue and not a legal one), but something should be done after your third time.
  - saiya-jin 10y ago
    hell, I knew US is a effed up police state these days, but even a possibility of life for 3 times driving drunk? that's not western democracy, that's 3rd world fascist dictatorship in a hardcore flavor (FYI, I rarely drink and if yes its max few beers/wine only, would never drive under influence) maybe if you are living daily in such a broken environment it starts to feel more normal, but seriously guys... get a grip and try to come up with something that actually solves problems and not just destroys lives permanently. I don't want to travel to US for same reasons I don't travel to Afghanistan or South Sudan - some good people, but messed up system and you don't want to accidentally see the darker side of it
    - John23832 10y ago
      You didn't look at the stats... You're not getting a life sentence just for driving drunk a third time. You may get one for killing someone (or multiple people) while driving drunk, but not just for driving drunk. Look, I'm left of left, but there should be punishments for negative behavior.
    - kefka 10y ago
      I've really wondered how one can be charged with Drunk Driving. Follow me out on this. I work in Academia. There's signs everywhere about consent. "Women can't give consent when drunk" is the canard. In Indiana, that's not the law. But in many states, that's true. Now, if someone cannot give consent to do something, or sign legal documents, how can it be legal to charge someone with a drunk driving charge? The decision to drive was not based in consent, but instead based in intoxication. Therefore they were not in the right state of mind, either to decide to drive or drive. Then again, I also think that bars with parking lots are a significant issue as well, as it encourages patrons to drive there, drink (possibly to drunk) and then leave in their vehicle.
      - Avshalom 10y ago
        It's a question of who is the victim. If I sign away my house while drunk, I'm getting fucked. If I run over you in a car while drunk, you're getting fucked.
DanBC 10y ago
It's going to be very much cheaper for taxpayers to just give those people free alcohol rehab.
ufmace 10y ago
> A drunk driving conviction is a drunk driving conviction... I'm ok with that. Especially if it's your 3rd time. Near as I can tell, this is basically what the article is about. Our huge prison population is mostly due to extremely harsh sentences for serious crimes, not people with a little bit of weed. If you want a long prison term for some number of DUI convictions, then I hope you're okay with having prison populations much higher than any other first-world country, because they're the same thing. There's no way to cut that number down much without more lenient sentences for DUI, sex crimes, assault, murder, etc.
- John23832 10y ago
  > If you want a long prison term for some number of DUI convictions, then I hope you're okay with having prison populations much higher than any other first-world country, because they're the same thing. There's no way to cut that number down much without more lenient sentences for DUI, sex crimes, assault, murder, etc. TLDR; Yes, a habitual drunk driver deserves punishment (up to and including jail). -- By sheer numbers, the US will have more convictions for drunk driving due to the vast number of cars. There will be some portion of the population that drives drunk. A portion of that that drives drunk a second time. A portion of that will get a third conviction. So on, so forth. I don't think it is unreasonable to punish someone for a third DUI/DWI conviction. This isn't stop and frisk or police/government overreach. You literally have to drink enough to be over the legal limit (which everyone with a license knows), get in a car, and drive (and honestly it has to be bad enough that you get pulled over for it). You have to then be convicted (probably receive probation and classes) for the first offense. You then have to repeat that a second and third time... That is a series of choices that are made. Why do you think more leniency is needed at that point?

e12e 10y ago

Speaking of statistics, on a related note, The Guardian keeps a tally of people killed by police in the US: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/the-counted-police-killings-us-database https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/... Looks like numbers for January 2017 isn't in yet.