Rough justice America locks up too many people, some for acts that should not even be criminal Jul 22nd 2010 IN 2000 four Americans were charged with importing lobster tails in plastic bags rather than cardboard boxes, in violation of a Honduran regulation that Honduras no longer enforces. They had fallen foul of the Lacey Act, which bars Americans from breaking foreign rules when hunting or fishing. The original intent was to prevent Americans from, say, poaching elephants in Kenya. But it has been interpreted to mean that they must abide by every footling wildlife regulation on Earth. The lobstermen had no idea they were breaking the law. Yet three of them got eight years apiece. Two are still in jail. America is different from the rest of the world in lots of ways, many of them good. One of the bad ones is its willingness to lock up its citizens (see our briefing). One American adult in 100 festers behind bars (with the rate rising to one in nine for young black men). Its imprisoned population, at 2.3m, exceeds that of 15 of its states. No other rich country is nearly as punitive as the Land of the Free. The rate of incarceration is a fifth of Americaâs level in Britain, a ninth in Germany and a twelfth in Japan. http://www.economist.com/node/16640389
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There are more people in jail in the US then in the rest of the world combined! I think it's because they have privatized jails so there is an economic incentive to have prisoners + people in jail don't show up in the unemployment statistics + they are cheap labour. Also, think about it. Having pot illegal for instance provides a job to the cop, the judge, the guards in the courthouse, etc... But still...nothing you can do right...
What do other countries do with their mentally ill? In the US we let them roam the street. (The mentally ill have rights) What programs do other countries have in place for juvenile offenders? (Children have rights) We probably incarcerate (or at least suspend) more offending law enforcement officers that any other country also. (The victims have rights). 1 out of 100? The rest of us haven't been caught yet, talking on a cell phone, not wearing our seat belt and smoking within 50 ft of a building. We are all criminals. Show me the man and I'll show you the crime (as the old saying goes). How's this working out for us? It's about jobs. lmao.
Here's an article that tells a little more of the truth about this incident: http://www.greenenvironmentnews.com...Federal+Prison+Sentence+for+Lobster+Smuggling
yeah, they go to jail for not only illegal importing lobster, also endangering American fishing industry.
The US spends tens of thousands of $$ maintaining prisoners... The Chinese spend only about 5 cents for a bullet. Perhaps we'd have less crime if we did some of that..
These people were clearly poachers, and not simple "fishermen." However, we are FAR, FAR from being a "free Country" that we once WERE! Our founding Fathers are rolling around, doing backflips in their graves over what THEIR Country has come to. If I were the judge in this case I would have fined them if it was a first offense, and put that $$$$ to work in US fisheries. I guess common sense if far from common in the United Slaves of America today...