Militarization of our police?

[aquatus1]

It is not the War on Drugs putting people in federal prison. It is people breaking the law.

Agreed. However, to be fair, there have been indications that many of the laws that have been put into place or modified to include prison sentences have been supported and pushed by the companies that run the prisons.

In other words, privatization of the federal prison system may have resulted in a higher prison population because, whereas the Federal government had no incentive to keep people in jail, private companies make more money the more prisoners there are.

Again, I stress, may.

[+DieChecker]

Agreed. However, to be fair, there have been indications that many of the laws that have been put into place or modified to include prison sentences have been supported and pushed by the companies that run the prisons.

In other words, privatization of the federal prison system may have resulted in a higher prison population because, whereas the Federal government had no incentive to keep people in jail, private companies make more money the more prisoners there are.

Again, I stress, may.

True. But unless you believe every single guy on the TV show Cops did indeed not have any drugs on them and it was planted by the police, the people arrested still should have known not to be using or selling drugs. They take a chance and if they have 2 brain cells to rub together they know they could go to prison for months or years.

[+DieChecker]

Agreed. However, to be fair, there have been indications that many of the laws that have been put into place or modified to include prison sentences have been supported and pushed by the companies that run the prisons.

In other words, privatization of the federal prison system may have resulted in a higher prison population because, whereas the Federal government had no incentive to keep people in jail, private companies make more money the more prisoners there are.

Again, I stress, may.

Banks do the same thing by trying to push credit cards, and by getting the law to support their horrendous fees, but we have the ability to just not use credit cards. And to take our money from the bank to another that does not hose us over.

Are the prisons influencing the Judges, Juries and Evidence?

[aquatus1]

True. But unless you believe every single guy on the TV show Cops did indeed not have any drugs on them and it was planted by the police, the people arrested still should have known not to be using or selling drugs. They take a chance and if they have 2 brain cells to rub together they know they could go to prison for months or years.

Yes, I did agree with that.

Banks do the same thing by trying to push credit cards, and by getting the law to support their horrendous fees, but we have the ability to just not use credit cards. And to take our money from the bank to another that does not hose us over.

Are the prisons influencing the Judges, Juries and Evidence?

I sincerely doubt it. Blue-collar crime tends to be easier to upgrade to jail time than debt. We still have a bad association with people being thrown in debtor's prisons, and it is unlikely any company would want to draw attention to themselves by proposing it.

[Babe Ruth]

How is the US a totalitarian state? There are plenty of thing to not like about areas of US or local policy and law, but totalitarian?

In my previous post I mentioned how NDAA just signed eliminates Habeas Corpus, which is a very old legal principle stating that the government cannot hold any suspect longer than 48 or 72 hours if it cannot prove to a neutral third party (the court) that it has a solid case against that suspect.

The NDAA also effectively nullifies the Fifth Amendment, and the Patriot Act effectively nullifies the Fourth Amendment.

Being able to hold a citizen indefinitely, and being able to search anybody anytime any place without what they call "due process" are qualities of a totalitarian state.

I can understand how these things are very unpleasant to contemplate and come to terms with. At least they are for me.

But they are reality. Eric Holder has recently defended the end of the Fifth and Habeas just last week or so. No, it wasn't on the TV evening news, along with "analysis." It's so unpleasant that even the talking heads don't like talking about it.

There is much much more, but I'll stop here.

[Corp]

Banks do the same thing by trying to push credit cards, and by getting the law to support their horrendous fees, but we have the ability to just not use credit cards. And to take our money from the bank to another that does not hose us over.

Are the prisons influencing the Judges, Juries and Evidence?

I actually use my credit card all the time, but I never spend more than I have and I get rewards. I've made much more money off the credit card company than they've made off of me.