What can be done to decrease the US prison population?
There probably isn’t a single solution to this, as the whole issue is dependent on a number of related factors. One the one hand, you have to make the thought of a prison sentence more of a deterrent than it is now, but as long as prisoners have access to a better lifestyle, in some cases, than non-criminals, then this won’t happen. People who refuse to abide by society’s rules shouldn’t have the privileges afforded to people who do abide by them. While I accept some people have a hard life, and maybe feel they have to resort to crime, most criminals are in prison because of choices they made – nobody held a gun to their head. Then you need to clean up the justice system so that you keep the most dangerous people off the streets. While I am neither for nor against legalising marijuana, for example, as I don’t know enough of the facts, possession of this drug would seem like a minor problem compared to murder, rate, burglary, etc. This means a better prioritistion of police resources ne
