For those of you who really believe "locking them up" is the answer, I ask you to really consider carefully what you're saying. Do you truly believe that harsh punishments ever stop an illegal act from continuing?
The answer is no. In fact, it just makes the stakes higher and creates a stronger and more viscious criminal element (e.q., prohibition made the Mafia an entity to be reckoned with in this country).
Have any of you ever considered the fallout from destoying one person's life?...how it reverberates through the family and creates a viscious cycle of anger and violence? Do you not understand that "locking 'em up" is akin to saying, "let's destroy this person's inner soul", "let's send his family into poverty", "let's create more expense for each one of us and produce a new dangerous criminal that we can deal with upon his release"...?
As America's laws get more severe and tolerance less, crime rates soar, families are shattered, and the true definition of "good" (human--not legal) is lost. Additionally, people continue to commit the crime but are made to be victims of violent organizations such as the Coyotes--- they are unprotected and vulnerable since they are now the "criminal" and they're status as fellow humans vanishes with the new label created by another no-tolerance law.
It's ironic that these people are only seeking a better life and are considered criminals for doing so while the hypocrites who are voting for this so-called "national protection" are hiring these same illegals and are getting away with it "scott-free".
Has our society really fallen this low? There was a time when values were important. Today, laws have replaced common consideration and love for our brothers and sisters. National boundries should never make a person less of a person. Seeking a better life should never be a crime unless it directly damages another. Prison sentences damage people, their families and has a long-term negative echo that rings through society for generations to come. We are so giddy to find reasons to put people into jail until we realize we let it go so far that it has affected our own loved ones. Are you ready for that?
Maybe the people who support this site are big believers in punishing children with the whip; but luckily the majority census is against this and understands that healthier adults result from sparing the whip and showering them with love instead. If we believe in this, why do we still believe that stronger and stronger punishment will make our country better?
Take a good look....as we've created more and more laws (lots of "lawmakers", not a single "law-taker"), what do we have to show for it? A higher % of criminals ever...a bigger and bigger bill to pay for these efforts (leaving less for constructive reform and proactive deterrance), and a society of bible thumping hypocrites who are the epitomy of the "evil" they denounce.
Wake up people! If you don't get the redneck jokes you hear, it could be because you are one.
Open up your minds and accept a borderless world--the dam has been broken for a long time! Work with what we have for a positive outcome!
From Recoil