This is awesome! The best practical solution to decreasing non violent incarceration I've ever seen implemented. I feel like government officials so rarely make such immediate and bold changes that this will be very interesting to watch play out.
I agree...I heard about Larry Krasner from kids studying his policies at Hampshire College. There seems to be a ton of support for him in the liberal community. Hopefully we'll see some real and compassionate change from his tenure. Just imagine if we used the money saved with mass incarceration to raise teachers salaries, put it into the arts or helped with public housing.
It's exciting to read the memo and even though I agree with the sentiment I disagree with the article's title that this is how to end mass incarceration (specifically the "mass" part).
The fact that marijuana is still a Schedule I drug at the federal level is incomprehensible and I worry that choosing to ignore the law, such as this local DA and Obama have done, is actually an impediment to real lasting change. Nothing moves slower than the legislative branch of the federal government, but until they are pressured into legalizing pot (and ideally one day every other victimless "crime") the looming threat still exists and weighs disproportionately on those with fewer means in less progressive areas of the country.
Also, how about focusing on the bipartisan/apolitical nature of this memo? The first example in the section on diversion was that of a law-abiding gun owner caught carrying without a permit and the first paragraph under plea offers specifically states in bold that it doesn't apply to violent crime. This DA clearly isn't some left-wing radical loon. Can't we all agree that we shouldn't have to worry about jack booted government thugs ruining our lives so long as we aren't hurting anyone else?
RR ReallyRead.it took 10 minutes to get through this article. Not sure if it is the embedded images that it hung up on, or if you need to keep scrolling up & down after you finish reading to get it to register, but clearly something needs to improve.
As for the article: Economic impact reports for crimes is a huge step forward. What people do to themselves vs inflict on others is a big step forward in what crimes should be prosecuted. I hope it leads to real legislative reform. Fighting the prison industrial complex is going to be tough with all those lawyers losing fees.
This is awesome! The best practical solution to decreasing non violent incarceration I've ever seen implemented. I feel like government officials so rarely make such immediate and bold changes that this will be very interesting to watch play out.
I agree...I heard about Larry Krasner from kids studying his policies at Hampshire College. There seems to be a ton of support for him in the liberal community. Hopefully we'll see some real and compassionate change from his tenure. Just imagine if we used the money saved with mass incarceration to raise teachers salaries, put it into the arts or helped with public housing.
It's exciting to read the memo and even though I agree with the sentiment I disagree with the article's title that this is how to end mass incarceration (specifically the "mass" part).
The fact that marijuana is still a Schedule I drug at the federal level is incomprehensible and I worry that choosing to ignore the law, such as this local DA and Obama have done, is actually an impediment to real lasting change. Nothing moves slower than the legislative branch of the federal government, but until they are pressured into legalizing pot (and ideally one day every other victimless "crime") the looming threat still exists and weighs disproportionately on those with fewer means in less progressive areas of the country.
Also, how about focusing on the bipartisan/apolitical nature of this memo? The first example in the section on diversion was that of a law-abiding gun owner caught carrying without a permit and the first paragraph under plea offers specifically states in bold that it doesn't apply to violent crime. This DA clearly isn't some left-wing radical loon. Can't we all agree that we shouldn't have to worry about jack booted government thugs ruining our lives so long as we aren't hurting anyone else?
As for the article: Economic impact reports for crimes is a huge step forward. What people do to themselves vs inflict on others is a big step forward in what crimes should be prosecuted. I hope it leads to real legislative reform. Fighting the prison industrial complex is going to be tough with all those lawyers losing fees.