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Never Mind Gitmo—the Real Prison Problem Is Here

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 8, 2009 9:20 AM CDT

(Newser) – The collective freak-out over closing Guantanamo proves that Americans do care about prisons and prisoners, but Gitmo “is a mere speck in the eye of America’s larger prison program,” writes Dahlia Lithwick in Newsweek. That’s why Sen. Jim Webb of the “lock ‘em up” state of Virginia is launching a campaign to overhaul the entire system. To see the problem, Lithwick writes, “Americans need only know how to count.”

The US has just 5% of the world’s population, but 25% of its prisoners. “Either we’re the most evil people on earth,” Webb likes to say, “or we’re doing something wrong.” Sixteen percent of inmates are mentally ill, and many, many more are nonviolent drug offenders. “If we’re so worried about locking up a few terrorists for life in maximum-security US jails,” Lithwick writes, “shouldn’t we be worrying about the folks who are already there?”

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Inmates at the Mule Creek State Prison bend down in a gymnasium that was modified to house prisoners August 28, 2007 in Ione, California. (Getty Images)

Claire McCaskill looks on as James Webb testifies on Capitol Hill. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, FILE)

An inmate at the Mule Creek State Prison walks near their bunk beds in a gymnasium that was modified to house prisoners August 28, 2007 in Ione, California. (Getty Images)

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Compared with the powder keg of our domestic prison system, Guantánamo looks pretty benign. - Dahlia Lithwick

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 13 comments

freethemall

Jun 9, 2009 12:11 PM CDT

Not only should we stop putting the non-violent in prison, we should also stop letting the violent out.

drlarrymitchell

Jun 9, 2009 4:16 AM CDT

"Bend down" before you BED down.

Forderon

Jun 9, 2009 3:25 AM CDT

Do you even know how much executing inmates costs? It's way more than it costs to keep the inmate in prison for the average stay of 30 years before release or death. You can't just execute everyone who is found guilty. There have been several cases overturned on DNA evidence, some were even executed before the evidence was found. If you want to live with that kind of system, go ahead and move to Afghanistan.

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prison • Guantanamo Bay • mental illness • prison system • James Webb • inmates • prison population

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