In his a column “Our budget is saying things about us”, Jeff Hawkes opines:
“One more thing about the budget: It shows how much we value locking up people. How so?…
“Corrections Secretary Jeffrey Beard in February told a Senate committee he needed 10 percent more funding. He ended up with an increase of 11.2 percent.
“It’s insane. And Beard would be the first to say so.
“The lock-’em-up mandatory-prison-term mentality that started in the 1980s had predictable consequences. Prisons are now jammed with nonviolent offenders, such as addicts who steal to support habits.”
WATCHDOG: Three wags of the tail!
Maybe the legislative leadership added the extra $$$ to provide for their former associates and employees who are going to do jail time for their roles in the “bonusgate” scandal.
As for locking people up, good. Throw away the key, too. A person who is locked up isn’t stealing from innocent victims to support his/her drug habit. Maybe it’s time to remember that the rest of us deserve to be protected from criminals of any kind, not just the violent ones. In other words, no wags of the tail from here.
Incarceration isn’t exclusively about punishment, it’s also about protecting the rest of us from criminal activity, thank you very much.