Prison Populations

prison populations: Partly under the influence of misguided drug war policies, partly under lobbying pressure from the private prison industry, partly because of right-wing anti-crime zealots, Americans responded to their declining crime rates by declaring a war on drugs, leading to huge increases in prison populations. , according to Times Colonist. But it seems we have learned nothing from the tragic results of the American efforts to get tough on crime; recent Canadian crime bills are leading us in the same direction. In particular, these bills have drastically increased the number of criminal offences with legislatively specified mandatory minimum sentences. This idea, while it might seem reasonable at first glance, is a pernicious one, because it allows no latitude for judicial discretion and mercy. How should society respond to decreasing crime rates? Should we see this as an opportunity to reduce the number of people in our prisons? Or should we find ways to maintain and even increase our prison populations, just as has been done in the United States? This war has been ineffective in reducing crime and drug use, but clearly has exacerbated social injustice in American society by disproportionately punishing minorities and the poor. And sending more people to prison means more real criminals on the street in the future, because prisons are schools for crime. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.