Last night, I reprinted a letter sent by a Michigan school Superintendent to our Governor, asking that his school be converted over to a prison. Given that we fund corrections better than we do education in this state, he argued that it would be in the best interests of his students. He was clearly attempting […]
Posted in Civil Liberties, Michigan, Other, Uncategorized | Also tagged Baldwin, corrections, Department of Corrections, drugs, education spending, minimum required sentence, Natalie Holbrook, prison industrial complex, prison reform, prison sentences, prisoner advocate, Quakers, war on drugs |
My friend Natalie Holbrook attended the U.S. Social Forum in Detroit today. Here’s her report: I’m super tired, but here’s my take on the USSF today. Many, many people walking around Detroit peacefully and with an air of kindness. Cobo Hall was thumping with hundreds of folks. All different sorts of people — young, old, […]
By Mark | January 4, 2010
From an editorial in today’s New York Times: The United States, which has less than 5 percent of the world’s population, has about one-quarter of its prisoners. But the relentless rise in the nation’s prison population has suddenly slowed as many states discover that it is simply too expensive to overincarcerate. Between 1987 and 2007 […]
Posted in Other | Also tagged ACLU, Bureau of Justice Statistics, ex-prisoners, mandatory prison terms, National Prison Project, overincarceration, Pew Center on the States, prison industrial complex, prison industry, prisoner advocate, the cost of incarceration, things going well in Michigan, three strikes and you’re out |