Update on driver who fell asleep at the wheel

Rick Onanian

wrote in part:

Most of our incarcerated population is in for
drug offenses that did not involve violence or
stealing, AFAIK. After all, god forbid
somebody should smoke a joint...

This has been repeated so many times by so many people that it's become
conventional wisdom. The funny thing about it is that it is simply not true.
According to the latest DOJ stats available (2001) 49% of all prisoners in
State facilities are there for violent offenses, 19% are there for property
crimes, and 11% for public order (perjury, bribery, etc) crimes. Only 20% are
there for narcotics offenses. That's State prisons. The federal prisons have a
higher percentage of narcotics offenders but that's because relatively few
violent offenses are federal crimes. In 2002 federal prisons were housing just
163,528 inmates. In 2002 the State prison(s) held 1,277,127 inmates. BTW, in
most States possession of a joint is, at most, a misdemeanor. Misdemeanor =
possible county jail time but *not* State prison.

Regards,
Bob Hunt

Zoot Katz

wrote in part:

http://www.drugpolicy.org/drugwar/mandatorymin/

I don't know their source for those figures.
--
zk

Why not go straight to the source:

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/welcome.html
You'll find the numbers there without the misleading summaries. I'm not
accusing you of being misleading but those quotes *are* misleading because all
the numbers referred to are for *federal* prisons. The overwhelming majority of
prison inmates in the US are in *State* facilities where all the objections
cited simply don't apply.

Regards,
Bob Hunt

(Dennis P. Harris

wrote:

oh, many of them were either growing or selling a rather harmless
herb.


Tobacco?

Regards,
Bob Hunt

Over half the people locked up are Blacks and Illegal Mexicans doing drugs,
murdering, and other things like that.
"Andy Simpson" m wrote in
message ...
"Kerry Nikolaisen" wrote in message
ink.net...
If you recall, a bus driver (off-duty) fell asleep at the wheel killing
a cyclist near Alton, Illinois. Concerned parents in her district
started a petition to have her transferred to a "non-driving" position.
This petition drive stemmed from the response they got from the school
district that they could do nothing to the driver until the state
suspended her license and/or bus permit.

Apparently they did just that. Makes me wonder if the state would have
taken this action if the petition drive had not been initiated.

Here's the link.



http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?n...G=461&dept_id=
25271&rfi=6

Kerry


A $500 fine and she lost her license for a while.
What kind of fruit-loop country do you people live in ?
What the hell did the 2 million people you have locked up in jail do if
you
just get a $500 fine for running someone over and killing them ?

Don't be road-kill, emigrate.

Hunrobe wrote:

there for narcotics offenses. That's State prisons. The federal prisons have a
higher percentage of narcotics offenders but that's because relatively few
violent offenses are federal crimes. In 2002 federal prisons were housing just
163,528 inmates. In 2002 the State prison(s) held 1,277,127 inmates. BTW, in
most States possession of a joint is, at most, a misdemeanor. Misdemeanor =
possible county jail time but *not* State prison.


Do these statistics reflect the federal prisoners currently residing in
state prisons? I've a friend who works up at SCO Waymart and they have
quite a few.

I'm not disputing the figures, I'm just asking about them.

Mike Baron

wrote:

Do these statistics reflect the federal prisoners currently residing in
state prisons? I've a friend who works up at SCO Waymart and they have
quite a few.

I'm not disputing the figures, I'm just asking about them.

I'd *guess* that it does because a federal prisoner (convicted and sentenced in
a federal court) is a federal prisoner and a State prisoner (convicted and
sentenced in a State court) is a State prisoner regardless of where they are
actually located. To get a definitive answer, consult the USDOJ.

Regards,
Bob Hunt