> Am I arguing with Joseph, or Dennis,
> or both? They seem to be arguing with each other;
> but about what?
My point is simple. People critical of prison policy often say things that are wrongheaded because they're based on bad information.
A good example is the claim that most people in prison in the U.S. are in for drugs. Not so.
Otoh, it is true that a sizable percentage of recent increases in the federal prison population can be attributed drug cases, because more of those are being policed and prosecuted by the feds than in the past. But on the other other hand, the federal population is far smaller than at the county and state levels, where most cases are brought.
That's just one example. Another is that prison privatization and prison labor are growing like Topsy. Again, not so.