Pro Criminal Justice Reform, or Pro Criminal?
/Pro Criminal Justice Reform, or Pro Criminal?
By Lt. Patrick J. Ciser (Ret.)
America has the highest per capita incarceration rate in the world. While there are many reasons for this, I’ll speculate on just a few. I believe that we are, generally speaking, soft on crime. Because of the sheer volume of law breakers in our “Land of the Free,” almost EVERY crime, and EVERY offense is downgraded after plea bargains are made. Murder becomes manslaughter, aggravated sexual assault/rape becomes sexual assault. Burglary of a dwelling becomes criminal trespassing, aggravated assault becomes simple assault, car theft becomes taking a vehicle without owners’ consent, and the list goes on. It is EXTREMELY rare that perpetrators are convicted of crimes they actually commit, and do any serious time.
The United States has all but abolished the death penalty, which I feel was a deterrent. It might not cut down on crimes of passion or premeditated murders involving extreme malice, but I believe that it will cause many of our inner-city youth gangs and others to think twice before killing someone for simply disrespecting them. If you see your friends being put to death by the state for killing another human being, I believe it would cause many to think twice before squeezing the trigger. It also guarantees that the perp won’t one day kill another inmate, or worse, a corrections officer. It would also eliminate the chance of them being paroled in 20 years regardless of an original life sentence. We’ve all seen cop killers who were never supposed to see the light of day get paroled years later. China has the death penalty, as does North Korea, which I believe curtails their murder rate. Lower for sure than our shoot-em-up big cities. Drug distribution in some countries like Iran carries the death penalty, resulting in less drug trafficking. (I’m not advocating the death penalty for drug distribution, just to be clear).
Somewhere along the line in the United States we started feeling bad for offenders, and even predators, while showing little concern for the victims of crime. These victims, unfortunately, have become faceless statistics to many of our left-leaning politicians. We read about the insanity of early release programs that allow countless offenders to murder, rape, and rob again. Senator Cory “Spartacus” Booker, and Richard “The fake Vietnam vet” Blumenthal, wrote up a bill two years ago which would mandate that we release 7% of our prison population across the country with, “The Reverse Mass Incarceration Act.” Then, alarmingly, they conceded that our crime rate as a result would probably go up 3%. Tell me who the f—k, besides a convict and his family, would take THAT deal! With 2.3 million incarcerated, we would essentially be letting out 161,000 inmates for no good reason. Would you be for it if one of these individuals attacked your family member, or sold fentanyl-laced heroin to your son or daughter?
Bail reform is TOTALLY out of control in New Jersey and New York, while California’s cash bail overhaul has recently been put on hold. Perpetrators are assaulting cops at an alarming rate as they resist arrest, only to walk out the door at their arraignment. Drug dealers have their business up and running in no time thanks to bail reform. Burglary to a dwelling? No problem, you’re good to go, maybe you can go back and hit the neighbor’s house. Or better yet, maybe they can go terrorize the homeowner or neighbor that ratted them out and convince them that it wouldn’t be wise to testify.
And if you think it’s bad to allow suspects out who are charged with third degree crimes, just read up on New York’s new Bail Reform Law that’s supported by ultra-liberals like NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio and Gov. Cuomo. New York State just passed the new law in April of this year, and it goes into effect in January 2020. Under the new law, of the 205,000 criminal cases arraigned in New York City in 2018, only 10 percent would have to post bail; have we totally lost our minds? District attorneys from the five boroughs, along with NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill are all adamantly opposed to the plan, saying that, “It puts the public at risk!” (Not to mention the cops)
Violent gangs in our cities, with MS-13 arguably being the worst, have always laughed at our weak criminal justice system. But today, it’s even worse, as a result of so many politicians advocating for criminals rather than victims.
