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Why is this ironic? Are we talking about Japanese internment camps from almost a century ago?
by arcticfox 8y ago
Why is this ironic? Are we talking about Japanese internment camps from almost a century ago?
- danharaj 8y agoIt could also refer to Gaza. I'm not the OP though.
- adventured 8y agoI believe they're referring to the premise that US prisons are overwhelmingly filled with innocent, non-violent offenders, with the majority specifically consisting of black and hispanic men. The US has a real negative mark there and deserves the flack that it gets for it. However, while China seems to be racing toward some terrifying authoritarian nightmare with its Xi dictatorship and bringing back camps, the US incarceration rate has been declining for a decade. It has been rolled back to 1995-1996 levels and is on an aggressive downward slope. Most likely with the continued legalization / de-criminalization of marijuana, the US will see its incarceration rate continue to plunge for the next 10-20 years. The prison explosion began around 1978-1979. In another ten years we should have the incarceration rate back down to late 1980s levels. That would still be 2x higher than the late 1970s levels, and a lot more work would still need to be done. For reference, peak incarceration was around 2007, and was about 5x what the rate was in the late 1970s (per capita). Both political parties have widespread agreement that the failed US policies of mass-incarceration have to be reversed / ended.
- zip1234 8y agoMaybe non-violent, but innocent? Innocent of what? If they are innocent, then perhaps some statistics on how many innocent people are imprisoned?