How other countries see the American justice system

[CCmom]

Leave it to the comedians. Take a look at Stephen Fry's video :-)

http://www.prisonfellowship.org/blog/entry/6/15588

[DRUID1208]

lol never run out of things to say bout that topic lol

[moondoggie1]

Thanks for the link! It was interesting to watch them try to make light of it, while obviously being horrfied at the same time. I appreciated very much the comment that 'something must be done'.

[BadGrlGoneGood]

Excellent video. It's time for a lot of people to wake up and realize what's happening here. Some people are so indoctrinated that they can't see what's right in front of them.

[Becky2]

Dreadful and funny at the same time. One day they will look back on these statistics and everyone will shake their head and say "god didn't it used to be barbaric back then".

[danny28]

I've also seen the video. It is quite sad in realizing the facts that America is really in a deep crisis now because they have a more prisoners than any other countries in the world.

[loyalheart]

I'm from Canada myself, I think there's way too many people in jail in U.S for crimes which they would walk away from in Canada (possession of small quantities of weed) eventhough criminal justice system is much more relaxed over here we also have a lot less crime..

Go figure

[Becky2]

Originally Posted by loyalheart

I'm from Canada myself, I think there's way too many people in jail in U.S for crimes which they would walk away from in Canada (possession of small quantities of weed) eventhough criminal justice system is much more relaxed over here we also have a lot less crime..

Go figure

I guess its logical. If the laws are more relaxed then there is less crime because people can do more within the law and therefore are not charged - therefore there is less crime. I often wonder what the situation would be if there are ever more people IN prison than out of it! Many crimes that these people are in for are victimless. With the 3 strike rule its conceivable that there could come a time when the numbers of those inside match those on the outside. What a crazy world.

[Ramira34]

the u.s law is way too harsh and the government only got themselves to blame coz theyre just as corrupt as some of the feds in my opinion...

[Rêveuse]

There are, in my opinion, a number of things going wrong in the prison system, e.g. death penalty and LWOP for juveniles. Both are terribly backward punishments.

[Lordbew/us]

Originally Posted by Rêveuse

There are, in my opinion, a number of things going wrong in the prison system, e.g. death penalty and LWOP for juveniles. Both are terribly backward punishments.

And I must add mandatory minimum sentences to your list. There are way too many people doing outrageously long sentences due to this dang law. I am totally against this blanket sentencing where the D.A. can basically arm twist a defendent into taking a mandatory sentence by hanging a jury trial over their heads.
The D.A. does not consider what role a defendent played in the crime because of these dang laws. PERIOD! IT IS AN OUTRAGE!!!!!! It allows the JUDGE and D.A. to park their brains (questionable??) on the curb.
I'm a mom of a first time offender/co-defendent that was given a 12 year mandatory sentence.
I NO longer trust or believe in this system to do the right thing, it's all about power and politics, especially for those D.A.'s and Judges that are voted in. The public is so naive...I can say that because I use to be one of them.

[mallafri]

My BF got twenty years through a mandatory minimum, he's done drug rehab and about four years in prison and he's a changed man. I agree that one of the problems is the mandatory minimum, another one is no parole in the Feds! If people are willing to change and turn their life around, the government think they're gonna do that sitting 10, 20, 30 years inside with a lot of criminals who don't wanna change. And once someone's released after a long prison sentence, prison will be all they know, I hear about a lot of these long timers who are scared to death about being released and actually wanna stay in prison. There's a lot of research out there who say that long prison sentences actually create more crime rather than the opposite! The US has the highest crime rate and the harshest sentences in the western world, prison creates more criminals and more crime! And another problem is that people go into politics via the justice system. How many lawyers and DAs haven't withheld information or ignored something because they needed a conviction to further their career?!?! What about the "making a deal", two people are present when someone's killed, the person who's actually the killer makes a deal with the DA and talks and gets a lesser sentence and the other person, who was at the crime but didn't actually kill anyone, get sentenced for murder. What the heck is up with that!

Sorry but there are so many things wrong with the US justice system! I'm just amazed that it's allowed to continue, that the government doesn't do anything about it! Keeping people in prison is expensive and many times not effective. And the justice system doesn't care if someone changes or not, when your time is up it's up, doesn't matter if you're ready to be released or not, out to society you go. And if you've changed before your time is up, tough luck, you're staying in there.

Sorry about the long post, I just feel so strongly about this issue and have done long before I met my BF!

[He&me]

Originally Posted by mallafri

My BF got twenty years through a mandatory minimum, he's done drug rehab and about four years in prison and he's a changed man. I agree that one of the problems is the mandatory minimum, another one is no parole in the Feds! If people are willing to change and turn their life around, the government think they're gonna do that sitting 10, 20, 30 years inside with a lot of criminals who don't wanna change. And once someone's released after a long prison sentence, prison will be all they know, I hear about a lot of these long timers who are scared to death about being released and actually wanna stay in prison. There's a lot of research out there who say that long prison sentences actually create more crime rather than the opposite! The US has the highest crime rate and the harshest sentences in the western world, prison creates more criminals and more crime! And another problem is that people go into politics via the justice system. How many lawyers and DAs haven't withheld information or ignored something because they needed a conviction to further their career?!?! What about the "making a deal", two people are present when someone's killed, the person who's actually the killer makes a deal with the DA and talks and gets a lesser sentence and the other person, who was at the crime but didn't actually kill anyone, get sentenced for murder. What the heck is up with that!

Sorry but there are so many things wrong with the US justice system! I'm just amazed that it's allowed to continue, that the government doesn't do anything about it! Keeping people in prison is expensive and many times not effective. And the justice system doesn't care if someone changes or not, when your time is up it's up, doesn't matter if you're ready to be released or not, out to society you go. And if you've changed before your time is up, tough luck, you're staying in there.

Sorry about the long post, I just feel so strongly about this issue and have done long before I met my BF!

I agree with you, the thing is, if you come from a country that has a other kind of justice, you will deal with a lot of missunderstandings.

Its hard to understand that a country profits on the prison system, that the prison industries is a big part of a country.

[shaunna]

I agree with what another poster said.. funny but dreadful at the same time