Indy Media Watch

New Orleans is running a report on opposition to growing prison numbers.

Prison populations across the country continue to swell, according to a new report by the US Department of Justice. While some lawmakers clamor for more prisons to alleviate the over-crowding, a growing movement of community groups is calling for a rethinking of the country’s prison policy.

And who are some of these groups?

Critical Resistance is one of many groups across the country that are mobilizing in communities to stop new prisons and criminalization, which they say disparately impacts people of color. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics report, about 60% of people in prisons and jails are people of color.

Other statistics would argue that (allowing for errors) 100% of the people in prison did something wrong. Shouldn't preventing the crime in the first place, rather than excusing it afterward be the focus of their efforts? Apparently not:

We know that as long as there is prisons, they’re gonna find somebody to put in the prisons. So what are we gotta do? Shut ‘em down!

I'm sure they have The Mob's full support. By closing down the prisons, I'm also sure an immediate reduction in crime will follow... What an innovative approach to social welfare and crime-reduction.