Discussions

Respond to these 3 classmates, saying what you liked and agreed with what they wrote. 60-90 words

  1.   With the constant overpopulation in our jail/prison system, the sad truth is we are addicted to solving our social/public safety with incarceration. With more than half of our prisons being filled with non-violent drug offenders, there are definitely better ways to deal with non-violent drug offenders instead of throwing them in an already packed prison system. My suggestion on how we deal with non-violent drug offenders is to offer better rehab sessions, better metal groups, and community service. Similar to a three-strike system, if a user is caught, send them to a proper rehab clinic, if they're caught again send them again to a rehab clinic but this time you're also in a mentor group. If for whatever reason they're caught on the third time send them to a low-level prison for a short amount of time and come out to complete a long rehab process. The key here is rehabilitation, not a punishment that is unjustifiable. On the subject of whites having the same or higher level of drug use than blacks/Hispanics is not shocking. Police forces are usually more up and arms in low-income areas, if we're able to find a way to balance out the police force and put more officers in white areas I'm sure the number of whites arrested will be greater than others.  To answer the question of why whites arent arrested at such

2. I do believe that we are “addicted to solving our social and public safety problems with incarceration.” In regards to non-violent drug offenders, I do not believe there is any valid reason as to why we would need to arrest them. If they are not violent, why are we keeping them away from society? Throwing any offender in jail is not going to teach a lesson. It is actually much more likely that this will make the issue worse. I am sure that there are many non-violent drug offenders who become violent after having to spend time in jail. We should not just solve an issue with a person by putting them away as if they were objects. I am sure that if there were hefty fines instead, more people would listen.

First and foremost, I believe that the biggest reason for this discrepancy is that a white person is much less likely to get stopped in comparison to a black or Hispanic person. Everyone knows that many white people do heavy drugs. I have personally met a lot more white people who do drugs than black or Hispanic people. Every black and Hispanic friend I have or I have ever had who did drugs, would only do marijuana, at most. I have only had a few white friends but many of those few would do heavy drugs such as LSD or ecstasy. This was frequently done by them as well. I do think police officers are more inclined to stop vehicles that look cheaper or are modified in any way. Many blacks and Hispanics enjoy buying sports and race cars. Police officers, as we know it, are inclined to stop those in sports and race cars. My car, for example, is a sports car and I have gotten stopped several times just due to my tints. I have a white friend who also drives a sports car but without tints and she does not get stopped. Also, there is a difference in economical status and classes between blacks and Hispanics vs. whites. This means that chances are, a black and/or Hispanic person will be driving a cheaper car than a white person. My first car was a used car that had several issues and I would get stopped every other month regardless of how I was driving. This made me think that I was getting stopped because people with less money are apparently more likely to be committing crime.

 

3. In regards to the videos shown above, I believe non-violent drug offenders should be held to a different standard than a regular criminal charge (depending on the circumstance). When dealing with some that may have a small amount of drugs on them, especially marijuana, I would recommend a citation. Now in the case where someone is driving and has drugs on them, I would lean more towards the arrest route as driving under the influence of any drug is dangerous and should be held to that same standard. I would understand if the driver was tested and was shown to have good motor skills at the time and no signs of using the drug, then it should be leaning more towards the route of a ticket or citation. As for the increases in arrests for Hispanics and Blacks compared to Whites, there are a number of different theories you could come up with. For example, because of the highly dense population of white people in the united states, it's easy for there to be bias within the justice system towards other white people. Another possibly is that because there are so many white people in certain areas, most people will see them as normal people if the majority of that area's population is clean cut. That could sway the thinking of an officer who maybe today doesn't feel like putting this young man under arrest because he knows he might be a "good person" too. A lot of people could be using that to their advantage, as officers are very reactive and will do what they have to do but can be swayed by someone with very good control of themselves. Unlike some Hispanic men and Black men who know their chances of arrest are higher if they're caught with some kind of substance, hence possibly making them more nervous and uncomfortable. That could make their chances of getting a lesser punishment lower if the officer feels like they are hiding something and then find it. Just theories though.