Imprisonment

Americans may be fat, greedy, poorly educated, and self centered, but give credit where credit is due; we know how to kill. Our military history, and military present, clearly demonstrate this. Another thing we know how to do is lock people up. WE (americans) know better than anybody, we know as well as Stalinist Russia or communist China.

The United States has the highest percentage of its population in prison of any  country. One reason is that america puts people in prison who have no business being there. Was it really necessary to put martha stewart in prison for 6 months for insider trading and lying to the feds about it?

Definitely a crime, but let the punishment fit the crime. Make the punishment financial. Take away all of martha's money, which is condiderable; for heavens sakes don't lock her up like an animal in a cage.There are now suspicions that people are starting to be sent to prison for debt, in effect recreating debtors prisons, which were abolished in america in the eighteen thirties. 

People who buy and sell mind altering drugs should be considered business people and customers, not criminals.The customers are self medicating. we (america) has hundreds of thousands of people in prison for drug crimes; should be add alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine to the list? Hell, we'd all be in prison.drug problems are medical problems, not legal or criminal.  

Abraham Lincoln said: "Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason, in that it makes a crime out of things that are not crimes, and attempts to control a man's appetites by legislation. Prohibition strikes a blow against the very principles upon which this great nation was founded."

And we keep building more prisons, and locking up people who could be working, supporting themselves. There will come a time when our descendants will regard us as barbaric savages for having imprisoned so many people.Fundamentally, the america people are fair minded and reasonable. They won't tolerate this forever.