The prison system in this country has gotten to be so out of control with its 2.3 million incarcerated I believe it is time we created a new clemency process designed to reduce the prison popultation by allowing five member panels in every county of a state that sent a person to prison be established to determine who out of these 2.3 million do not need to be in prison and help them get back on track instead of wasting away because they made a mistake.
Clemency or mercy is the most powerful tool in criminal justice and if used properly it can cut our prison cost in half without risking the public's safety. In fact we could be safer if a smaller prison system is more concentrated on monitoring only serious and violent offenders.
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In California a federal court has ordered the release of 44,000 inmates due to prison overcrowding and its affect in part on prison health care.
We can safely release these prisoners if someone in the California legislature or the governor had mentioned The Second hance Act. It is impossible to release thousands of inmates without any support which is what the State of California will be forced to do because its lawmakers are so worried about public safety they can not think of how best to help these individuals once they hit the streets.
I'm willing to bet that no California lawmaker has ever heard of The Second Chance Act signed by President George W. Bush.
Illinois please show California how this can help us.