CAN WE HAVE A FREE SOCIETY WHEN SO MANY ARE JAILED?

Has the United States become a police state? Has this status crept up on us
by accretion as overzealous politicians have played on fears of crime to get
votes?

Tonight 1.8 million Americans will sleep in a federal, state or local prison
or jail. Consider also that about 4.1 million Americans are on parole or
probation. A total of 5.9 million adult Americans are under
policesupervision. That is 2.2 percent of the total population or about 3
percent of the adult population.

Not only is the dollar cost of imprisonment and supervision gigantic, but
such a police state taxes democracy and civil liberties.

Should we not revisit the entire legal structure of criminal laws, most of
which have been enacted in the past 30 years? Should we not consider
returning many civil violations that became criminal laws back to civil
infractions? Should we not consider a drastic reform of America's drug laws,
which are proven failures, create more crimes and criminals and do not stop
the use of, or the trafficking in, illegal drugs?

If we take no steps now to explore criminal-justice reform, what is the
critical mass to cause us to face the fact that in any small crowd of people
there are criminals or formercriminals? Is it 5 percent, 10 percent, 20 percent?

Can we have a society based on personal freedom when so many citizens have none?

Richard N. Friedman, Miami