Subject: Fwd: [LPNY DISCUSS] Re: trends in liberty (Prisons) Date: Tue, 4 May 2004 12:14:10 -0400 To: From: Bob Armstrong ( John was just reelected our NYLP chairman . He's a remarkable guy - straight arrow , ex-submariner . ) --- Original Message --- From: "John Clifton" To: =A0 Sent: Tue, 04 May 2004 12:42:05 -0000 Subject: [LPNY DISCUSS] Re: trends in liberty (Prisons) >From a Paul Craig Roberts column today: ....The US has a unique distinction: It is the world's greatest= prison state. The US, "the land of the free," has the biggest prison population= in the world and the highest rate of prisoners per capita of all countries =96 including countries that President Bush believes= need liberating by US armed forces. Even China, with one party rule and a population that is 4.5= times larger than the US population, has 30% fewer total prisoners than= the US. China's per capita rate is a small fraction of the US rate. The US prison population per capita is three times higher than= "axis of evil" country Iran, five times higher than Tanzania, and= seven times higher than a civilized European country like Germany. One out of every 142 Americans is in prison =96 and this does not include military prisons or INS jails. The conservatives' war on drugs, launched during President= Reagan's first term, bears much of the blame. Between 1980 and 2000, a= period during which the US population grew by 21%, the number of state= and federal inmates soared by 312%. Almost one-half million Americans are in prison for drugs-only offenses. Many of them are innocent or were encouraged by= federal agents or informers posing as friends to transport small amounts= of drugs as a favor. Consider Elaine Bartlett, pardoned by New York Gov. George Pataki= in 2000 after serving 16 years of a 20-year-sentence. Bartlett was tricked by an acquaintance, who turned out to be a government informant, into taking four ounces of cocaine to Albany. Bartlett= was given 20 years even though she had no history of arrests or convictions and left 4 children behind, the oldest being 10= years old... http://www.lewrockwell.com/roberts/roberts43.html ---Peace & Freedom, John--- --=A0 =A0Bob Armstrong -- http://CoSy.com -- 212-285-1864 Libertarian Presidential Candidates =A0:= http://CoSy.com/Liberty.htm Restore our Right to Relax : =A0http://ny.lp.org/cgi-bin/petition.cgi?Against_the_Smoking_Ban =A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A02004/05/04 12:07:52 PM