When neither crime nor punishment pays

America needs to listen to Mayor Cory Booker, who talks common sense about Crime and Punishment issues America. I'm candidly surprised at the lack of conversation in the AfroSphere regarding crime issues in African American communities. Although many bloggers like Prometheus 6, Jack and Jill Politics, Field Negro, Mirror on America, Republic of T and others have hit the nail on the head regarding the challenges of black-on-black crime, many black bloggers seem to be scared to address the issue for fear of airing dirty laundry.

Guess what folks it's aired every day in the streets of America!

OK, so black bloggers should be able to blog about anything they want. Your Right! yet, one has to wonder if black bloggers could and should do more to educate others about issues impacting our own community. But, that is just my opinion, and guess what, I just could be right.

When neither crime nor punishment pays

Source: star ledger

Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark

By Cory booker

In barbershops and boardrooms, in newspaper headlines and presidential debates, Americans are questioning the billions of dol lars a month being spent on a failing war, and the current "surge" in Iraq.

But we, policy-makers at every level of government, should also be questioning the "domestic surge" at home in the so-called war on drugs and urban crime. There are more guns, more technology, more cameras scanning streets, and more money spent on jails, prisons and juvenile facilities every day. The cost to American taxpayers also rises every day.

he way we have chosen to deal with crime is leading our nation away from its highest ideals and producing results that stand in stinging contradiction to who we claim to be.

In the land of the free, we lock up a greater percentage of our population than any nation. The U.S. prison population has increased 91 percent in the past 15 years. More than 7 million Americans are under some form of state or federal cor rectional supervision, and this does not include the legions of Americans in county and city facilities.

Is this the America of which we dream?

Our societal resources pour into prisons and police budgets -- the numbers are staggering. Billions of dollars are spent annually around our state, with budget growth at a pace far beyond that of our economy. Newark spends over a quarter of its budget on police, courts and jails.

Is this the America of which we dream?

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