I think its a symptom of some bigger issues. Specifically that many of the decisions in the US are being driven by fear and the increasing role that money plays

I think its a symptom of some bigger issues. Specifically that many of the decisions in the US are being driven by fear and the increasing role that money plays in politics (and elections in particular). Instead of addressing problems in a way that would be most effective for the individual and society, we are so afraid of having "bad" people on the streets, that we lock them away, sometimes for years, without a lot of evidence that we are doing any good (in fact, there is evidence that once someone enters the prison system, they are likely to commit crime once released) On the political side, we are unnecessarily removing transparency from the government and sacrificing constitutional rights in the name of protecting ourselves from terrorists and people involved with criminal activity. The potential for abuse with this type of action is huge, especially if you get the wrong people in power. I don't think we'll fix these sort of problems until we change our mindset and get money out of politics.