There is a lot of information, rumor and supposition going around the camp regarding the pending bills in both the house and the Senate regarding prison reform and how it will affect all the inmates. I don't fully understand how it will affect all of us but what i do understand that sentences will be reduced on a great many prisoners and a great many will be getting out as a result of the passage, I should say when and if it passes. The president is behind it and it seems so are most thinking politicians so we are confident of it's passage before the end of 2015. It would affect those prisoners in on drug convictions, some white collar criminals and those that committed non-violent crimes. It would also reduce or take away harsh mandatory sentences and hopefully would prevent over zealous prosecutions by US attorneys.
These are all great things and of course I am hopeful for it's passage. What the bills don't address is that the overall justice system in this country is broken and needs to be redressed or totally scraped and re-built. The entire system wastes money and hurts countless families by the fact that many of the people in prison just don't belong there. The punishment in many instances does not fit the crime. The punishment in many case is counter productive and punitive. We need to do something at the root level to correct the system and have a real system for the country.
