How about we just go back to what the Bible prescribes, Restitution and execution and close down the prisons.

Theives, carjackers burlglars petty criminals, Pay a massive fine. 3 times the value of stolen property. If they cant ay for it, put them in community service. Then they can learn a trade so they wont have to steal.

Murderers, rapists, chaild molesters, drug dealers, Hang em High!
No mercy.

We could save tons of money. No one would dare steal a luxery car if they knew they were going to pay 3 times what is owed on it.

It would be cheaper to just pay the convicts 1/2 of that $46,000 a year to stay out of trouble, go to school, go travel and see something besides what they have always seen, learn a real trade, buy a house fix it up and start a family(here in Detroit, houses are going for $1000 in some places)
It would recreate neighborhoods and give them something to work for.
It would put the prison guards and owners out of business though.

I agree so much with your reasoning with this cartoon. My husband went to prison for a minor thing and it has made him meaner. He had a mental illness from severe abuse while young and needed to be hospitalized for treatment and diagnosis. The money for a thorough diagnosis and ongoing treatment would have been a helpful decision.

I live in California and the mess described is all too real to me.
The numbers are sickening and the results of the recent "budget compromise" will only exacerbate the situation. There is a proposed bill to legalize marijuana; if it passes, they should make it retroactive and that would free-up alot of money for more important things.

The cartoon fell a little flat, but you make a great point.

We have the whole "crime and punishment" situation all wrong. We need to be more like Norway. They may not be perfect, but they don't believe in killing killers. Doesn't that send the wrong message to those who have nothing to live for? Most who kill have that attitude. "So what if I'm going to get the Death Penalty? I get three square meals a day, have housing and know what I'm going to do every day of my life till I die."

That is job security for the prison-industrial complex. Here in California, the overcrowding has gotten so bad the State is being forced to release prisoners--pretty much non-violent offenders. But those on Death Row didn't care about their lives when they committed their crimes, so how is killing them a deterrent to anyone with nothing left to lose?

See the problem is not that we're too tough on crime--- it's that we're not tough enough! See, if we just execute prisoners en masse (Hey, why not right out on the street when first caught, as a "deterrent" to others), why we could save a ton of money.

If we could just execute all those skateboarding punks, Music and Movie downloaders, medicinal marijuana smokers and other dope smokin' hippies, we'd have a lot more room in the prisons for political prisoner.... er, I mean, TERRORISTS!

:D

Actually, I agree. We lock up too many people for small infractions and we allow too many dangerous criminals to go back to the streets. And it costs everyone a fortune.

Hi Mark,

I still can't see anything but the top curb of the "C" on comments. Using MS Explorer, probably a version or two outdated.

Sammy Li'l Shiv is back! It's been a long time, but he never really left. Let him know what you think of his cartoon.

-MF