People are in an uproar over revelations that Jerry Case, the man accused of kidnapping a Gastonia family last week, is a former death row inmate who was arrested three times since he was paroled in 2007 from a life sentence for murder. As my dad would have said, Hasn't anybody around here got any sense?
North Carolinas parole system, which, to be fair, is a collection of some of the most overworked people in the state, is taking the heat for Cases actions, which came a mere two weeks after another NC parolee, Patrick Burris, killed five people in Gaffney, SC. Someones head is probably going to roll over North Carolinas de facto catch and release imprisonment policies, but that wont solve the huge underlying problem of overcrowded jails.
May I suggest a possible remedy? Stop filling up our jails and prisons to the bursting point with drug offenders. Law enforcement and prison officials nationwide have repeatedly noted that much of their time, and their facilities space, is taken up with people whose crime was buying or selling drugs, and its an open secret that some police forces are jacking up their arrest statistics by making easy pot busts. In addition, the use of three strikes and youre out life sentences for repeat cocaine dealers has become such a big problem, some states are repealing those laws as they see their prisons forced to release the likes of Jerry Case in order to make room for druggies. A relatively simple solution is to quit enforcing pot laws. Dont officially decriminalize pot, just dont enforce the laws against it kind of like jaywalking. Its a strategy that, I feel, citizens would readily accept if it was explained properly as an effort to keep more dangerous criminals in prison. Its worth a shot and, in any case, its way better than letting murderers run loose.
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