Robert Smith of Roanoke, VA I am finishing a documentary on the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC), and I must say that many of these comments indicate an active state of denial in Maine.

The point is that corporations bribe state politicians with contributions and gifts to write laws designed to keep more people in prison for longer periods of time, all in the name of MONEY. Prison populations are soaring in the USA because this $200 billion dollar industry exploits people to make MONEY for the greedy old white men who own these corporations.

Subsidiaries of Halliburton own more than 53% of the PIC market share. These unscrupulous people who hide behind interlocking corporate directorates, have written a series of laws that allows them to operate in secrecy, and to threaten lawsuits against state & local officials who dare to question their operations.

In fact, over the last 10 years, crime rates have fallen the most (over 40%) in states with liberal laws and healthy education and have fallen the least in states with the harshest laws (12% in TX).

It's all about a government that has been hijacked by these same greedy old white men for the purpose of making as much MONEY as possible for themselves and their friends at the expense of the taxpayer and the people they exploit. It's all about hatred of others, and a cruel lack of aesthetics. It’s all about a government that is being used to exploit a segment of the population which can least defend itself from cruel, unethical practices.

Sure, you gentlemen (and I use the term loosely) will argue that Africans killing each other means our prison population is perfectly justified, but these are objections of deluded imbeciles who would rather misdirect and obfuscate the issues in order to say they are right, or to make MONEY, instead of attempting to understand the truth and promote healthy, cost effective solutions to a set of very real problems.report abuse

Peter Edgecomb of Hallowell, ME Based solely on incarceration statistics, the following countries are less violent than the US (according to Mr. Randall's logic);

Zimbabwe
Ethiopia
Cuba
Comoros
Sudan
Egypt
Niger
Turkmenistan
United Arab Emirates
Uganda

All of the above reported no one in their prisons to the UN.

If you believe that, I've got a nice place in Florida that you'd just love.

Have a nice day!
report abuse

Peter Edgecomb of Hallowell, ME Mr. Randall, would it interest you to know that the UN doesn't have any statistics available for most of South America, Africa, South East and South West Asia? I'll state it clearly sir, half the world doesn't keep track of crimes committed in their countries. Some report low numbers for political reasons.

If you knew that you'd know that you couldn't possibly make a claim so absolutely.

Are you seriously trying to convince people that the violent crime rate in the US is even slightly comparable to that of say Darfur? How about Somalia or Kenya?

How about asking your professor to contrast his knowledge of the criminal justice system in the US with those in the countries I mentioned above.

Get some perspective, you can't rely solely on statistics because you can mold them to any point of view.

The crime rate in Saudia Arabia is among the lowest in the world and their prisons are few, are you suggesting we adopt their criminal justice system?report abuse

Rob Tabor of Portland, ME You are right Peter, it is nothing personal against the good Doctor. I wonder if he is invested in any equities, if so, he better liquidate and put everything in CDs. How could he have these evil corporations in his investment portfolio?report abuse