CRIME: Green initiative

GREEN party position on crime, part 1 of 4

1. A plan to revitalize our economy must be a central element of any overall plan to reduce crime. Fear of violent crime is growing and it is our belief that the breaking of the bonds of community, the economic and social root causes of crime, must be addressed in the same way politicians today propose putting more firepower on the streets; threatening criminals with harsher sentences (�three strikes and you�re out�); and building more prisons.
2. The advent of a �prison industrial complex� in the United States has become a national disgrace. The Green Party raises a united voice in opposition to the terrible inequities within the criminal justice system, the systemic injustice and prejudice, the lack of adequate legal representation for the poor and under privileged, the gross punishments mandated under punitive sentencing laws that fill the jails, prisons and penitentiaries with non-violent offenders.
3. The Green Party opposes privatizing of prisons.
4. Any attempt to combat crime must begin with restoration of community; positive approaches that build hope, responsibility and a sense of belonging.

Three strikes you're out only affects those that are either doomed or poor. The concept may have sounded good but the results have shown to not work. Corporate-Prisons are an affront to the dignity of a nation. Instead of eradicating crime this concept has only led to shifting the burden to a new type of economic slavery.

5. Young men and women must have access to work that pays a family a living wage.
6. We would initiate social programs that are alternatives to gangs, such as �Gang Intervention Units.� Practical education with a real promise of a future is needed if we are to expect long-term success in this struggle, especially against street crime and hard drug trafficking.
7. We encourage our political leaders to remember that �an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.� With the costs of maintaining a prisoner far outstripping the costs of educating a child, or the costs of providing job training, or job creation incentives, or providing adequate social services and a �social net� to those in need, we believe it is only appropriate to focus on where our societal intervention can be most successful and effective.

Community work centers that provide access to all types of work utilizing existing government services can be created with no additional cost to the public. State offices exist in most communities at th present. A change in focus from being clerks and receptionists to being work-advocates would not necessitate any increase in government employee numbers.

Every public college and university should be mandated to provide training of at least three semi-skilled career fields. Any institution that receives public monies must be made to contribute training for its local communities.

End part 1 of 4-

GREEN party position on crime, part 2 of 4

8. We must develop law enforcement approaches that are firm and directly address VIOLENT CRIME, street crime, and trafficking in hard drugs. Violence that creates a climate of further violence must be stopped.
*9. While toughening penalties for violent crimes, it is inappropriate to have a de facto policy of leniency to �WHITE COLLAR CRIME.�
(dealt with as a seperate issue @ part 4)
10. We recommend establishing effective, independent CIVILIAN REVIEW of complaints of police misconduct.
11. We support the �Brady Bill� and thoughtful, carefully considered GUN CONTROL.
12. We endorse PRISON EDUCATION and JOB TRAINING.
13. We support innovative approaches to rehabilitation, and transitioning of non-violent criminals back into their communities.
14. We do not support, as a matter of conscience, the DEATH PENALTY.
15. We support JUDICIAL REFORM that opens up the court system, makes it affordable and convenient to ordinary citizens, and provides for more efficient administration of justice.
16. We support tough DWI laws.

Citizen involvement is needed at all levels of crime prevention and enforcement. Prisoners need productive work. The country-club atmosphere and gang type environment of many prisons must stop. Prisoners should view release from prison as a reward rather than a revolving door.

GREEN party position on crime, part 3 of 4

17. We call for consistent policy of protection against VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
18. We endorse federal funding for RAPE CRISIS CENTERS and DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS. We call for rape and domestic violence prevention and education programs and stiffer sentences for people convicted of domestic violence.
19. VICTIMS� RIGHTS must be guarded and protected. Victim-impact statements are appropriate vehicles for achieving full justice, and restitution should be considered in many cases to ensure victims will not be lost in the complexities of criminal justice.
20. We support decriminalization of �VICTIMLESS� CRIMES, for example, the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
21. We call for legalization of industrial hemp and all its many uses.
22. We oppose the illicit activities of the international drug trade and the illicit money laundering that often accompanies the drug cartels. We call for a revised view of the �drug problem� and an end to the �war on drugs,� recognizing that after over a decade of strident law-and-order posturing, the problems with hard drugs have only worsened.
23. We call for expanding drug counseling and treatment for those who need it.
24. We believe mandatory drug testing violates civil rights; therefore, we oppose mandatory testing.
25. We favor innovative sentencing and punishment options, including community service for first-time offenders and �Drug Court� diversion programs. We support alternative sentencing for non-violent crimes (i.e. community service) and guaranteed education within prison � G.E.D. courses and college courses as well as skill training and dispute resolution.

Children need schools to be safe. This is such a simple statement as to appear stupid. This is a need that is not properly addressed in current society.

Punishment of criminals for crimes against others should constitute the prison population. Drug use and abuse is a sickness and should be treated as such.

GREEN party position on crime, part 4 of 4

While toughening penalties for violent crimes, it is inappropriate to have a de facto policy of leniency to �WHITE COLLAR CRIME.�We believe broad corporate crime legislation should be enacted and enforced. We support efforts that target the worst cases of corporate (and governmental and defense industry) illegality, and we support resultant sentencing (and fines) that acts �with teeth� as an effective deterrent.

White collar crime is the crime of the educated. This is also the crime that indirectly affects more people's livelihood than physical crime. One need look no further than Enron and Tyco to be convinced that the present legal system not only does not discourage this type of crime but in plain words the system simply does not work.

National White Collar Crime Ceneter, while a step in the right direction is a continuation of wrongheadedness. Focus on major crimes and �organized crime� shines the light into the wrong closet.

As with virtually all state and national crime prevention initiatives the light of prosecution needs to shine into the small drawers, the two and three person larcenies. When �the small fry� start getting prison terms the larger groups will have a tougher time recruiting co-conspirators. Enron ruined thousands of people. The perpetrators learned their craft somewhere. Had enforcement of even the lax laws currently on the books been vigorously enforced the thefts the size of Enron may not have happened.

White collar crime is a disease that eats at the very fabric of society. As with any disease it would be more advantageous to fight and eradicate at its infancy rather than wait until the cure is as damaging to the patient as the disease.

I like the suggestions, but what I'm not seeing is cost of the plans and how it'd be implemented. Any frther details?

byrd
I like the suggestions, but what I'm not seeing is cost of the plans and how it'd be implemented. Any frther details?

Unlike the open-ended semi-proposals from the two major parties the costs for 'taking America back from crime' is less than is presently being spent on crime.

Average (if there is such a thing) cost per year per prisoner is $25,000 in 1992 dollars.

Quit wasting money on studies. As an example of some studies being paid for and by no stretch all - look at some of these at this link.

Bring common sense into crime, from the government's viewpoint.

Crininal Justice resources
"The number of Americans locked up has quadrupled in the last 25 years to almost 2 million, as states used longer sentences to get tough on crime. In Michigan, the prison population has increased almost five times since 1975 to nearly 50,000 ... .Nationwide, an increasing number of released inmates--two of three in 1994--committed another serious crime within three years. In Michigan, of the 7,701 inmates paroled in 1995, 40 percent returned within four years for either a parole violation or new sentence. That's up from 26 percent of the inmates paroled in 1991." Source: Detroit Free Press (10 Jun 2002): p.8 secA

These are old (decade+) figures. Just using these with NO extrapolation for current dollar$ a 25% reduction in expenditures would result in $12 Billion + in savings. $12 Billion! That's a lot of money.

How to accomplish this?

Be realistic. Admit �the war on drugs� is farcicle. Over a decade of �war� and the problem is worse.

Legalize and TAX marijuana.
For parole violations work-release instead of reinstituionalization.
Work in prison instead of T.V. and the Internet.
Prison industries reform- where the profits go into prisoner education and prison upkeep.
Segment prison areas so that 'ganging' and grouping are minimized.
Decrease non-violent prison terms with goal setting for release.
Remove 'individualism.' Burr-cuts once a week. No moustahces or beards. No head-scarves, etc.
Make prison a place people want to leave and not return to.

"The average cost to keep one person incarcerated for a year in 1992 was about $25,000, and the average cost to keep one person on probation for a year was $5,000. When we multiply by the number of people under each form of corrections, the total costs are about $47 billion per year. Add to that the costs of law enforcement and the total climbs to about $71 billion a year. And this does not include the costs of courts and prosecution, nor the costs of building prisons and jails...." Source: U.S. Criminal Justice Interest Groups : Institutional Profiles. Westport, Ct. : Greenwood Press, 1993.