Private Prisons: Profits of Crime

By Phil Smith  Read more... (3602 words, 1 image, estimated 14:24 mins reading time)

We the people of the United States of America have the responsibility and obligation to the very best of our ability to build, maintain, reconstruct or entirely reinvent our national and local system of “Criminal Justice”, such that it is consistent in processes of effective crime and punishment. Further, it is our onus and moral duty to our families, our neighborhoods, our country, and our fellow humankind, to set the highest standard for public and private safety and security throughout our nation, and to provide the most modern model of crime and punishment for the world to witness. Legislative, Judicial, and Penal reformatory actions must be taken to construct, implement, and enforce the Articles herein.  Read more... (2714 words, 1 image, estimated 10:51 mins reading time)

An Absolutely great article! (Kurt MC)

THE COST OF INCARCERATION

By Kevin Henry & Elissa R.

Kevin and I first published this essay in pamphlet form in 1996. Unfortunately, little has changed in the last near-decade except the increase in the total number of prisoners in the U.S. (As education OUTSIDE of prison disintegrates as well, we can only foresee this number swelling even more in the future.) Kevin, luckily, is still able to attend university extension classes and will soon earn his B.A. We offer “The Cost of Incarceration” here in honor of his upcoming graduation–and because his argument still needs to be heard. [Elissa R.]  Read more... (2572 words, 1 image, estimated 10:17 mins reading time)

In popular reference materials, the word addiction is continually defined using words like: ‘compulsive’, ‘habit-forming’, ‘substance’, and ‘harmful’. The stigma of addiction is negative and yet everyone in this world is subject to at least one addiction. Some addictions, of course, are obvious or easily spotted, only the addict or a select few know some addictions, and some addictions are not spotted at all and are taken for granted.  Read more... (298 words, 1 image, estimated 1:12 mins reading time)

Preface: The following article is the first in a series of nine articles that together share an overview of several observations and assertions regarding crime and punishment in America. While those who make it their business to study penology will correctly discern that these concepts are not exactly novel in-and-of-themselves, they may find these articles collectively of interest. Regardless, I believe it is our right and responsibility to speak about that which gives rise to our passions, in spite of engaging controversy.

Justice: Aspiration, Hubris, and Morality  Read more... (1124 words, 1 image, estimated 4:30 mins reading time)