1 in 4 US Adults Now Have Criminal Record - Around 65 Million Citizens

reply to post by Jean Paul Zodeaux


What then? I wouldn't be living in this country. If I know something is illegal, I am not going to do it unless it is more important than the consequence. If I know it is illegal and I get caught. I am not going to cry a river about it because I can't take responsibility for my actions. Anyone can view legislation. Take the time to do it or don't complain when you get caught. I didn't realize that was so difficult.

Originally posted by buni11687

According to a study by the U.S. Department of Justice, of the 2.2 million Americans that are currently incarcerated, 21.2 percent of them are non-violent drug offenders.

I think 75 percent of those in prison are there for drug related crimes. Theft,prostitution,and gang murders
are all drug related.

I know it's a tired subject but it's still relevant.

Legalize pot!

So many people in jail or with criminal records for a drug that should be legal. Ridiculous.

But that's the plan isn't it? Keep pumping these people into privatized profit driven prisons. So who do you think is REALLY behind the drive to keep it illegal? Well, who gets the money from keeping it that way?

www.pbs.org...

INTERVIEWER I've been told that the percentage of marijuana in prison is a very small percentage of the total number of people in prison for other drug offenses. ERIC SCHLOSSER It's a pretty large number, in the sense that, certainly, in the federal system, about one out of every six federal inmates is in federal prison for marijuana. That's a very large number. There are more people now in federal prison for marijuana offenses than for violent offenses. Out of the 1.1 million people in American prisons, the marijuana offenders are not the majority. But there are a lot of them. And certainly, at a time when there's a shortage of prison space and when murderers are serving on average about six years in prison, it seems absurd to have non-violent marijuana offenders locked up in those large numbers.

This is unbelievable... control of the masses is all 'they' want

reply to post by LoverBoy

What then? I wouldn't be living in this country. If I know something is illegal, I am not going to do it unless it is more important than the consequence. If I know it is illegal and I get caught. I am not going to cry a river about it because I can't take responsibility for my actions. Anyone can view legislation. Take the time to do it or don't complain when you get caught. I didn't realize that was so difficult.

I am not buying for a single second that you take responsibility for your actions. This nation is founded on the inherent political power of the people, and political power you clearly refuse to accept responsibility for, unless you want to step up and just flat out admit you advocate tyranny and think the invention of "victimless crimes" is a damn good thing for a nation supposedly founded on freedom.

Accept responsibility, my foot! Tell that tree, fella.

reply to post by jude11


I agree, I feel it should be legalized as well. If alcohol is legal, there is no reason why marijuana isn't. My point was that if you know something is illegal, then don't cry when you get caught. Take responsibility for your actions and read the legislation.

reply to post by Jean Paul Zodeaux


I wasn't trying to sell you that I do. Although, I do. If I know something is wrong and I can get fined or incarcerated for it, then I don't do it. If I do, then I am prepared to take responsibility for MY actions. You also do not know me on a personal level so how you know I don't take responsibility is kind of flawed. Legislation and laws have always been in play. If you don't like them, move to change it, deal with it, or move to another country that will have legislation as well.

What an absolutely horrific state of affairs.
What's good is bad and what's bad is good.
Whatever America was rumoured to stand for, it is now a far far cry from reality.
This is slavery, pure and simple.
Freedom, if it ever existed is truly dead now.
ALL GOVERNMENTS ARE TURN-COAT BAST**DS.
What harm did weed ever do anyone?
Who in Gods name has the right to take years from your life, all
for a few joints.
Look at clintons and bushes well known hard drug histories,
and clintons death trail and drug smuggling past.
Look at the CIA's drug-running historical escapades.
Look at the amount of slave labour goods produced in prisons.
It makes me sick to my stomach to think on what the US government are getting
away with. 9/11 was a hoaxed event which gave them false justification
to murder over 1million people and remove basic rights from its own.
Despicable inhumans.

Originally posted by LoverBoy
reply to post by Jean Paul Zodeaux

 

I wasn't trying to sell you that I do. Although, I do. If I know something is wrong and I can get fined or incarcerated for it, then I don't do it. If I do, then I am prepared to take responsibility for MY actions. You also do not know me on a personal level so how you know I don't take responsibility is kind of flawed. Legislation and laws have always been in play. If you don't like them, move to change it, deal with it, or move to another country that will have legislation as well.

I am addressing the points you are making in this thread specifically and I am asserting that your advocacy of legislation over law, and the justification of "victimless crimes" as an excuse to aggregate political power is one of two things. It is either an advocacy of tyranny, or it is a refusal to accept responsibility in the fight for freedom and your inherent political power as an individual.

Of course, at this point, it seems fairly clear this will just go over your head. As I said in the beginning, I pity the fool that takes advice from you.

Be careful not to generalize and extrapolate too far. This very issue of who is in prison has come up recently in my state and Here's an article Indeed, the percentage of prisoners in on drugs has fallen from 17% to 10% in 2010. And by "drugs" we're not talking a few joints here. We're talking about meth labs and such.

In terms of a "criminal record" the source here includes an arrest, even if not convicted. Some employers may do it differently. but mine says, "Have you ever been convicted of a felony?" It doesn't say, "Have you been arrested?" and it conveniently leaves out misdemeanors, which comprise the large majority of criminal records. That doesn't mean we won't take a look. If the job is as a driver of one of our vehicles, we DO check the driver's record for the applicant, but only after we've already selected them for employment. And even then, you might get by. Our last driver had two tickets on his record. We told him, "You'd better not get any more!" and so far he has not. Indeed, it's been so long at this point that it wouldn't make a difference.

As far as felonies, that might not matter either. Depends on what it is. If you've been in the joint for theft, robbery, or anything violent, then yeah, we don't want you around. If you think that's "unfair," that's really too bad because we don't. I got 100 applications for my last position. Some people clearly were not qualified and did not even read the job description or qualifications. Of course they go to the bottom. But all things being equal, if I wind up with two equally qualified candidates, but one has a pretty severe felony conviction, why should I opt for the felon? In a sense, the felon has already made his decision. Now you might say, "Well, what if he was innocent?" and I appreciate the sentiment. The only problem is a dirty little secret: No one in prison is EVER guilty. They are all innocent. Just ask them.

So if I were to accuse this thread of anything it would be hyperbole. It's nothing anywhere near that level if you address the issues I have brought up above. One out of four adults is NOT losing out to a job because of a 'criminal record.' But ATS is hyperbole incarnated, so no one should be surprised.

reply to post by Jean Paul Zodeaux


Not a problem I pity the fool who takes advice from someone who obviously has no regard for legislation. If you don't like it, tough. It has been here for thousands of years and just because a few people want to scream tyranny after they get caught breaking the law, it isn't going to change.

This also means 1 in 4 US Adults are ineligible to vote. What happens when the numbers become 1 in 2? It's as though they are weeding down their base narrowing it to something they can manage rather than trying to pander to a broad audience.

Originally posted by LoverBoy
reply to post by Jean Paul Zodeaux

 

Not a problem

I pity the fool who takes advice from someone who obviously has no regard for legislation. If you don't like it, tough. It has been here for thousands of years and just because a few people want to scream tyranny after they get caught breaking the law, it isn't going to change.

The 18th Amendment was repealed just 13 years after it was passed because juries flat out refused to convict manufacturers and importers of alcohol. You are clearly making your position clear, and it is an advocacy of tyranny. I assure you, few people are tolerant of such sycophants. Keep your selling your madness, fewer and fewer people are buying it.

reply to post by schuyler


This link here is from the Department of Corrections of Washington State, and here are some of the statistics that they give for 2010:

Murder 1 and 2: 1.0%
Manslaughter: 0.6%
Sex Crimes: 16.8%
Robbery 4.5%
Property Crimes 16.9%
Drug Crimes: 27.9%
Other/Unknown 9.8%

I don't know how you got from the Seattle Times article you linked that prisoners in Washington State for drug related offenses has "fallen from 17% to 10% in 2010" when the article actually states that:

The majority of the inmates in Washington prisons are being held for violent crimes like murder, rape and assault, according to figures provided by the state Department of Corrections. There were 11,835 inmates (69 percent) serving time for violent crimes in 2010, and 5,240 (30 percent) serving time for drugs, property crimes or the category of "other."

Their 30% claim, is a combination of drug related crimes, property crimes, and the "other/unknown" factor, but it is far from the 27.9% the Department of Corrections is reporting, but how you came up with your claim of 10%, is not clear to me, and of course, the 17% figure you claim, it is not clear what year that was where a supposed 17% of the prison population was there for drug related crimes, but the article you linked makes this claim:

In 2000, 62 percent of Washington prison inmates were doing time for violent crimes and 37 percent for drugs, property crimes or "other."

Of course, there is a disturbing ambiguity to that last statement I just quoted from the Seattle Times, but not nearly as disturbing as the Department of Corrections statistic:

Other/Unknown 9.8%

How many of that nearly 10% of the Washington State prison population is in there for "unknown" reasons I wonder? Unknown? Really? Dear God!

The "hyperbole" you accuse this thread of tends to lose some of its sting when we look at the actual statistics reported instead of going by your interpretation of the statistics.

Edit to Add: For some reason the link I provided was at 6400%, so I think I fixed at 100%.

Originally posted by js331975
This also means 1 in 4 US Adults are ineligible to vote. What happens when the numbers become 1 in 2? It's as though they are weeding down their base narrowing it to something they can manage rather than trying to pander to a broad audience.

Let's not forget that no passports will be given out. "Keep 'em in"! Easier to keep a tab on people. This, coupled with an increased watch on the Northern border, looks to me like someone doesn't want Americans to leave.

Portable guard towers, Grope fests on mass transit and FEMA camps. hmmmm

Originally posted by jude11

Originally posted by js331975
This also means 1 in 4 US Adults are ineligible to vote. What happens when the numbers become 1 in 2? It's as though they are weeding down their base narrowing it to something they can manage rather than trying to pander to a broad audience.

Let's not forget that no passports will be given out. "Keep 'em in"! Easier to keep a tab on people. This, coupled with an increased watch on the Northern border, looks to me like someone doesn't want Americans to leave.

Portable guard towers, Grope fests on mass transit and FEMA camps. hmmmm

I have a valid passport and I have renewed it since my conviction. I have also travelled outside the country (to Mexico) and came back. They ran my passport and welcomed me back home. Also, I can vote in CA, but not in VA. I'm not sure about other states.

One thing is for sure, if a felony conviction can be recognized in every state, then every governor should have the right to pardon a conviction from another state.

I had 7 pot plants in VA, in CA that is not even a crime, let alone a felony. So, since I now live in CA, why can't I be pardoned based on the fact that my so-called crime was not a crime here? Or, make it so that if you have Draconian states like VA, a felony would only apply in that state and be ignored elsewhere?

I dunno, and I'm not one to cry "not fair!", but this really is not fair.

Edit- I might as well go ahead and mention the fact that I was sent to a private jail. Those things should be outlawed. Everybody in Chesterfield County knows that the judges own the jail and are sending people there for profit. They are not stupid (just evil), so they have their financial ties hidden, but it's a small town and people know things if ya know what I mean.

I went to Chesterfield County Internal affairs and was told after 30 days that there was no wrongdoing on the part of the police. In the face of irrefutable evidence I was told by Sgt Polk that their police officers are good people and would never do something like I was accusing them of and I should be ashamed.

I went to the Richmond, VA FBI office to lodge a complaint and was told by the Alphabet Clown that, "we only investigate police departments when there is evidence of abuse." I asked him how they determine abuse if he was not even going to take a report? He told me that "how we handle our investigations is none of your business."

Law enforcement are lying, cheating scum who live for the benefit of the police state. Private jails should be outlawed and the people who run them hung by the neck until dead for crimes against humanity.

Ever heard of Aramark? The great company that provides delicious refreshments and keeps our uniformed people clean?

Know what else they do? They buy out of date food and then they sell it to the jails at an enormous profit. Then, the jails turn around and sell the stale, nasty food to desperate people at about a 10,000% markup. In VA they feed you so little food that you are always hungry, which makes people buy the commissary food so the private jails can make more money.

They also profit from the sale of postage stamps to inmates which I find to be absolutely vile.

If Virginia wanted to secede, I would be the first in line to say, "Let these redneck's go." They are un-American. They have zero regard for the Constitution- and they call themselves a "Commonwealth" which tells me they don't want to be a part of the United States anyway.

Dangit! I'm sorry, but in my last post I inadvertently omitted:

Assault 22.5%

From the statistics reported by the Department of Corrections for the State of Washington, and did not catch it until it was too late to edit that post.

I'm sorry. Doh!

reply to post by DragonTattooz


Wow I never knew this. I know of Aramark but had no clue they sold expired food. How is that even allowed? Couldn't a suit be filed against them?

Just like telling smokers to quit smoking cigarettes so they can get work; it's simple don't do drugs amd don't wind up in jail. Why is it not ok to discriminate against drug addicts/users/criminals when they sure AS H*** Discriminate against people doing a LEGAL substance?
Are you really surprised? DON'T DO DRUGS! SIMPLE