Shocking news? It may be a misconception that rape is a “crime against
women.” America’s criminal justice system has probably resulted in more rapes
being committed against men - men in prison.
One of the first significant American events of the new
millennium took place on February 15, 2000. According to The Justice Policy
Institute, the prison and jail population in this country reached 2,000,000
for the first time in our history. More than half of those imprisoned are
nonviolent offenders. The largest category of prisoners, by a wide margin,
are drug law violators.
No other nation on earth, nor any nation in history has
ever incarcerated so large a percentage of its citizens. Not only is the
raw number growing, but the rate of increase is growing as well.
The so-called “war on drugs” is reviving interest among
jurors in the libertarian idea of jury nullification -every juror’s power
to ignore criminal laws (such as drug laws and their draconian sentences)
and to declare “not guilty” any defendant. Many jurors are fed up with
the war on drugs and with the number of people in prison.
The real crime is being committed by those who put into
violent prisons all the non-violent adults who engage in non-violent behavior
with other adults. It is not a war on drugs. It is a war on the bill
of rights and upon all citizens. 2 MILLION IS TOO MANY!