Which country do you think is a police state?China?UK? Think Again.

Bob111 · Jul 23, 2010

Having pot illegal for instance provides a job to the cop, the judge, the guards in the courthouse, etc...
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you forgot the lawyer..there is probably more lawyers in this country than any employees in any normal(productive) business

directionless · Jul 23, 2010

Quote from Scataphagos:

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..
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I don't generally find your posts to be objectionable, but this one bothers me. I wasn't born in the US and was a naturalized citizen, but I absolutely LOVE the concept of innocent until proven guilty and the safeguards they came up with in this country. It's not perfect. If we resorted to 5 cent bullet treatments, it would destroy what makes this country great.

Truth is, I love the principles on which the US was founded. I don't love the current implementation, but God forbid we start importing Chinese concepts of justice and government control. This is the last place on earth where a solid fight against tyranny can even occur, so please think before you spread the idea that we would be better off adopting a Chinese form of anything.

Scataphagos · Jul 23, 2010

Quote from directionless:

I don't generally find your posts to be objectionable, but this one bothers me. I wasn't born in the US and was a naturalized citizen, but I absolutely LOVE the concept of innocent until proven guilty and the safeguards they came up with in this country. It's not perfect. If we resorted to 5 cent bullet treatments, it would destroy what makes this country great.

Truth is, I love the principles on which the US was founded. I don't love the current implementation, but God forbid we start importing Chinese concepts of justice and government control. This is the last place on earth where a solid fight against tyranny can even occur, so please think before you spread the idea that we would be better off adopting a Chinese form of anything.
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I didn't say anything about "before proven guilty"... We are about to start suffering health care "rationing"... other forms of "resource conservation" have their appeals.

America does too much coddling and rewarding those who are lazy, make bad decisions, commit crimes.... all at the expense of self-supporting, productive, law-abiding citizens.

Retief · Jul 23, 2010

What percentage of the prison population comprises illegal aliens?

As Investors Business Daily reported in March 2005:

"The U.S. Justice Department estimated that 270,000 illegal immigrants served jail time nationally in 2003. Of those, 108,000 were in California. Some estimates show illegals now make up half of California's prison population, creating a massive criminal subculture that strains state budgets and creates a nightmare for local police forces."

Story Continues Below

Citing an Urban Institute study, director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies Steven Camorata noted in 2004: "Roughly 17 percent of the prison population at the federal level are illegal aliens. That's a huge number since illegal aliens only account for about 3 percent of the total population."

Former California Gov. Pete Wilson places the percentage of illegal aliens in U.S. prisons even higher. In 2001, he told Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly:

"We had problems related to the costs of educating children who were acknowledged to be in the country illegally, healthcare costs. One in five in our prison population were illegal immigrants who had been convicted of a felony after entering the country illegally."

The Federation for American Immigration Reform also turned to the Justice Department to get statistics on criminal aliens. They report:

"In March 2000, Congress made public Department of Justice statistics showing that, over the previous five years, the INS had released over 35,000 criminal aliens instead of deporting them. Over 11,000 of those released went on to commit serious crimes, over 1,800 of which were violent ones [including 98 homicides, 142 sexual assaults, and 44 kidnappings].

"In 2001, thanks to a decision by the Supreme Court, the INS was forced to release into our society over 3,000 criminal aliens [who collectively had been convicted of 125 homicides, 387 sex offenses, and 772 assault charges]."

Up to a third of the U.S. federal prison population is composed of non-citizens, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons statistics - but not all non-citizen prison inmates are illegal aliens.

As to the "hard-working" claim, CIS notes: "The proportion of immigrant-headed households using at least one major welfare program is 24.5 percent compared to 16.3 percent for native households."

Investor's Business Daily concurs: "Once [illegals] get here, they are 50 percent more likely to be on welfare than citizens."
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Source: http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/3/27/114208.shtml

olias · Jul 23, 2010

Quote from directionless:

I don't generally find your posts to be objectionable, but this one bothers me. I wasn't born in the US and was a naturalized citizen, but I absolutely LOVE the concept of innocent until proven guilty and the safeguards they came up with in this country. It's not perfect. If we resorted to 5 cent bullet treatments, it would destroy what makes this country great.

Truth is, I love the principles on which the US was founded. I don't love the current implementation, but God forbid we start importing Chinese concepts of justice and government control. This is the last place on earth where a solid fight against tyranny can even occur, so please think before you spread the idea that we would be better off adopting a Chinese form of anything.
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+1

Scataphagos · Jul 23, 2010

Quote from directionless:

"... Truth is, I love the principles on which the US was founded.
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Me too. Sad shame that disregard for so many of them has become ingrained in our society. .

wilburbear · Jul 23, 2010

Quote from Sam Mcgee:

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
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This is an interesting story that I can easily imagine seeing on the front page of USA Today.

Here's the other side of the story:

http://www.iamnotguilty.org/story.htm

tmarket · Jul 23, 2010

Quote from number22:

US vs. Diane Huang case, in case people wondering, The economist didn't post the name.
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Even the Economist is turning into a gutter rag.

David Henson McNab, a citizen of Honduras, was found guilty of one conspiracy count, 11 smuggling counts and 16 money laundering counts. Robert D. Blandford, of Coral Springs, Fla., was found guilty of one conspiracy count, 11 smuggling counts, 10 felony Lacey Act counts, two misdemeanor Lacey Act counts and 13 money laundering counts. Abner J. Schoenwetter, of the Miami area, was found guilty of one conspiracy count and six smuggling counts. Diane Huang, of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., was found guilty of one conspiracy count, one felony false labeling count, and 15 Lacey Act misdemeanor counts. The Lacy Act prohibits import, export, transportation, sale, receipt, acquisition or purchase of fish, wildlife, or plants that are taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of any federal, state, tribal or foreign law.

The convictions carry maximum statutory penalties of five or 10 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000, or twice the value of the pecuniary gain by the defendant. The lobster tails at issue had a wholesale value of more than $4 million. Sentencing is scheduled for March 2, 2001 for Huang and Blandford, and March 16, 2001 for McNab and Schoenwetter.
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Lucrum · Jul 23, 2010

Quote from Scataphagos:

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..
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BINGO!

LEAPup · Jul 23, 2010

Quote from tmarket:

Even the Economist is turning into a gutter rag.
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Agreed!