>3000 US prisoners serving life for non violent crimes

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but its 'the land of the free', just keep reminding yourself that.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/n ... ent-crimes

Prison is the American solution for what to do with people on the margins. It's why we have such strict drug laws too.

There's money to be made by imprisoning people.
That is the answer to every question of "why" in America.
Because $$$, that's why.

Eh? It doesn't even sound like it was actual shoplift, just attempted shoplifting. If the jacket didn't leave the store, the only thing that can really be justified doing is barring the man from the place and notifying other businesses that he's liable to shoplift, none of which needs the state to get involved. Even if it did leave the store, it seems they got it back in one piece, and even if they hadn't then the most that could be done is make him pay for it, plus whatever it cost to recover the money from him.

But not life imprisonment. What's next, chopping off his hand? Branding him JT, for Jacket Thief? Hanging people for stealing sheep?

Shoplifting
• Value of the goods is $1,500.00 or more => Felony; Imprisoned for not more than 10
years with or without hard labor; and/or Fine of $3,000.00
• Value of the goods is $500.00 but less than $1,500.00 => Felony; Imprisoned for not
more than 5 years with or without hard labor; and/or Fine of not more than
$2,000.00
• Value of the goods is less than $500.00 => Misdemeanor; Imprisoned for not more
than 6 months; and/or Fined of not more than $500.00
It should be understood that shoplifting in Louisiana is an enhanceable offense, meaning
that subsequent convictions will carry harsher sentences and steeper fines. Furthermore,
when the misappropriation or taking occurred on multiple occasions and/or by a number
of distinct acts of the offender, the aggregate value of the misappropriations or takings
shall determine the grade of the offense.

He was also previously convicted of three previous crimes (all non-violent), which put him in the mandatory minimum life sentence category for exceding Louisiana's 4 strikes law.

Ah yes, the article eventually mentions that. I can see why they'd lock him up now, given that he's demonstrated a tendency to steal. But life imprisonment is rather excessive...

^^^ Not really. As another poster already mentioned, in America prisons are increasingly for profit ventures. When you take the non-productive people and lock them up, you create jobs and remove burdens on the system!

EVERYBODY WINS!

It's true they are in for the money,my bio-mom worked at two men's max security units.She said there was an older man dying of cancer that wanted to spend his last days fishing with his grandkids,but they would not release him because they knew he would not come back and they would loose money.Like a seventy year old dying man is a real threat to society.

Three/four strikes is the villain here.

By the time people commit their final strike, they're generally well into their forties. At that point, people commit far fewer crimes. There's usually no point locking people away for a long time at that age (obviously there are exceptions, the people who commit serious violent crimes for example). It's a stupid law.

Agreed.

In most states that have these laws, there is no distinction between the severity of the crimes whatsoever (i.e. murder=shoplifting=possession within 500 feet of a school=bank fraud - which you can be charged with for bouncing a few checks).

In some states, all of the strikes can be assigned based on a single incident. For example, let's say a man is pulled over for exceeding the speed limit by the amount that state assigns as reckless endangerment (most commonly 20 MPH over). That is strike 1. After the car stops, the officer decides the suspect is acting strangely and searches the vehicle on grounds of "suspicion." The officer finds the driver in possession of a roach (strike 2) and a pack of rolling papers, which in many states counts as paraphenalia when found in the vicinity of any type of controlled substance (strike 3).

That could easily be 3 strikes (depending on your particular state law).

It's stupid the number of people we put in jail for non violent offenses, especially drugs and prostitution. Legalize it and tax it.

Now as for three strikes, I'm not so sure that's a bad idea, but maybe it should be limited to three felonies. I am sick of hearing "6 time felon gets arrested." They did a study in Baltimore of criminals and they found the majority already have records.

So maybe we need to stop putting people in jail for stupid s**t that shouldn't even be illegal and focus on these 6 time felons, or these people who get 3 attempted murder charges plea bargained down to simple assault.

I think the 3 strikes laws are excellent in their intent, but their execution has been terrible. Any law like this should be very carefully designed and very specific about what crimes are counted. And I am not a big fan of prior (or present) misdemeanors being upgraded to felonies after a second/third misdemeanor charge (as is the case in a few states).

It's a daft and stupid law, but equally you want people to be punished properly and deterred from doing it again.

I'm not a huge fan of Louisiana.

Was he a three time looser? If that was his third offense then he was liable to receive life sentence for a felony conviction.

You friends in North Korea, a communist country (so you should love it to pieces) have executed 50 people for watching South Korean T.V. I don't see you posting anything critical of that.


ruveyn

The difference is, the USA has spent its existence career proclaiming itself as the paragon of justice and freedom while decrying nations like North Korea for similar harsh and arbitrary punishments.

The point is the utter hypocrisy.