Bursting Quote by Polly Toynbee

“Longer sentences also build incarceration rates and create a chronic condition of social incapacitation for those imprisoned, as they face severe restrictions on their…

— David Cay Johnston

Because prison sentences in America tend to be long, de-incarceration lags falling crime rates by a fair amount, but eventually it does catch up.

— Kevin Drum

I think there are too many people in jail for too long and for not necessarily good reasons.

— Eric Holder

“Few would guess that our prison population leaped from approximately 350,000 to 2.3 million in such a short period of time due to changes…

— Michelle Alexander

Most people seem to assume that this dramatic surge in imprisonment was due to a corresponding surge in crime, particularly violent crime.

— Michelle Alexander

“Part of this is related to the vast apparatus created to administer the criminal-justice system; part is related to the new laws that mandate…

— David Cay Johnston

Whilst long prison sentences will always be right for those who commit the most serious crimes, particularly of a violent or sexual nature, the…

— David Gauke

What to do about these increases in crime? Plenty of laws already exist to punish violent criminals, and research questions the level of correlation…

— Ken Cuccinelli

Enormous and growing parts of the population are basically superfluous for profit-making purposes. Along with this, the jail population is increasing very rapidly; it's…

— Noam Chomsky

You can put a person in jail for 5 years, for 10 years, or 20 years, for the same crime. We're deciding on 10…

— Glenn Loury

Too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long, and for no truly good law enforcement reason.

— Eric Holder

Jail is much easier on people who have nothing.

— Bernhard Goetz