Non-violent felons: Understanding the Repeat Offender

photo credit: Santafenewmexican.com

The only difference between non-violent prison inmates and all the law-abiding citizens is that "the non-violent prison inmate got caught and was held accountable for his/her bad decision(s)."

People at all income levels, all educational backgrounds, all races, and at all ages, can make a bad decision.

What is a non-violent prisoner?

Non-violent prisoners are typically people who may have/had a drug addiction or a lifestyle that they could not maintain.  So they turn to stealing, burglary, theft, or selling drugs to maintain their lifestyle or to achieve a better lifestyle.  Upon getting caught and convicted, the downward spiral is almost inevitable.

Who is the non-violent repeat offender?

Most convicted felons can not find a decent job after serving their time.  This rejection by society can cause depression and desperation which starts the cycle of one bad decision after the next.  It becomes a vicious cycle that the family can not seem to stop because the judicial system and society is not providing a solution.  Many convicted felons are capable of merging back into society, but they may need drug addiction intervention and job opportunities to sustain a modest household.

The families who love them can only do so much.  The judicial system is failing the families, the inmates, and society as a whole.  The convictions are extracting money from the family members with no benefits in return.  The convictions are destroying lives.  Wealth and material things can be replaced.  No one wants anything stolen from them, but Wall Street, predatory lenders, and other white collar business entities are stealing legally from the American public all the time.  People have lost their homes because of creative financing where bankers pocket the money.  Even O.J. Simpson is serving time for stealing items that originally belonged to him???? Wars are about "stealing" land, precious natural resources, etc.

President Bush stole the presidential election from Al Gore in 2000.  Stealing is just as American as Christopher Columbus taking America from the Native Americans.  Some people steal legally while others suffer for the rest of their life over one bad decision.

Repeat convictions by the same individual does not make them less human.  It just means society is failing to make better opportunities for everyone to have a piece of the American pie.

#exonerateMichael

I need many more supporters for my online petition.  Please help. Thank you.

https://8.change.org/p/nathan-deal-hold-widely-respected-judge-danny-craig-accountable-for-framing-michael-c-blocker?recruiter=532225508&utm_source=petitions_show_components_action_panel_wrapper&utm_medium=copylink

Human Trafficking and Sex Trafficking in the USA

After watching the movie "End of Watch," after reading survivor stories in Essence and Ebony Magazines, after reading that President Barack Obama has designated a $6 million grant to build solutions according to USA Today 9/27/12 edition, I was absolutely consumed with the topic of human trafficking and modern day slavery.

So let's look at all obvious angles:

The "Pimps" and "Madames" that rule the "modern day slaves:" They are men and women who see the world as a "hustle" to survive and make money. Only the strong will survive. If you deal with "humans" as commodity, then you can re-use the commodity without buying a new supply unlike if you were selling drugs. There may even be less punishment for those convicted of human trafficking versus drug trafficking. (I have not researched the difference in the sentencing trend.) So these people are trying to hustle "smart" versus working too hard at another human being's expense.

The Sex slaves: Some may be kidnapped and drugged and trapped into the lifestyle. Some may have left home because their mother's boyfriend or their mother's new husband or some other male has repeatedly sexually assaulted the youth. The youth can not get peace at home because of the abuse. Then the youth tries to find peace in the streets. Instead of finding shelter, the youth find similar predators as found at their home except the predators are now complete strangers. The youth find themselves in hell on the streets with a memory of hell at home. They give up on life because they can not seem to "win for losing."

Work slaves: Illegally transported from another country and promised a better life. They find their promises are broken and threatened to be sent back to a country that they do not want to return to.

So how do you solve everyone's problem? Find everyone a decent, honest, "good paying" job so that they can live their own American dream without the expense of destroying someone else's dreams. And to take this a step forward, encourage workplace fairness, diversity, and inclusion. And to take this topic even a step forward, consider this: if your $20 million dollar dream is at the expense of someone else's $100,000 dream, then it is called "greed."