WHERE IS BIDEN'S MERCY?

 

The best way to evaluate the state of mercy and compassion in our criminal justice system is to look at the number of people who are incarcerated.  I will look at this from the perspective of people incarcerated in Federal Prison. 

There is an abundance of commentary and literature comparing the level of mercy by presidential administration.  Which administration was most responsible for sentencing reform.  This is an attempt to look at the prison population of various administrations.

During the Nixon administration the number of people in Federal Prison was around 25,000.  It remained there throughout the Ford and Carter administration.  In the 1980s the federal prison population began to rise and did not stop till the 5th year of the Obama administration when it reached over 219,000.  

The question that should be asked is – was there less crime or was the criminal code simpler and more straight forward.  The implications are obvious, the criminal justice system is a very large part of the national budget. This discussion has nothing to do with interpretation of the law or case law.  It's about the expansion of the criminal justice system and the impact it has had on freedom.  

This is about the governments power to take freedom and assets from citizens.  It is about an expansion of government expenditures, it is about a larger and larger per cent of the population being paid to arrest, investigate, prosecute and house citizens for breaking the law, paying enormous amounts to multiple industries that now depend on government contracts that supply the BOP.   It is about the expansion of the criminal code. It is about nonviolent people who find themselves in an 8x10 cell for decades that has cost tax payers billions of dollars.

To be continued.