I emphatically support the objectives of Senate Bill 714 and strongly assert that the problems with our criminal justice system go far broader and deeper than overcrowding ... and in fact that the steady rise in inmate populations is a consequence of this overarching failure.

 

Incarcerating nonviolent drug offenders is a huge part of this critical problem and in context of the lives of inmates and their families now being devoured by the ramifications of incarceration, 18 months is too long to wait.

 

The American people deserve to have a JUSTICE SYSTEM that works for the well-being of ALL involved yet the fact is that the damage being done by the war on drugs is – in and of itself – as criminal as is waterboarding.

 

Better to take the tens of billions of our tax dollars currently being wasted on the enforcement of negatively effective draconian policies and spend it on healtcare, education and energy self-sufficiency.

 

In addition to Senator Webb's legislation, I also call for immediate support of HR 1466 with the addition of a retroactive clause as this would quickly help many who are now unjustly imprisoned and prevent more atrocity from coming to pass …

Christine Beems lives in Shirley, Arkansas.