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: The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

The Economist: "Rough Justice: America locks up too many people, some for acts that should not even be criminal."

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

Crime and punishment in America Rough justice America locks up too many people, some for acts that should not even be criminal The Economist Jul 22nd 2010 IN 2000 four Americans were charged with importing lobster tails in plastic bags rather than cardboard boxes, in violation of a Honduran regulation that Honduras no longer enforces. They had fallen foul of the Lacey Act, which bars Americans from breaking foreign rules when hunting or fishing. The original intent was to prevent Americans from, say, poaching elephants in Kenya. But it has been interpreted to mean that they must abide by every footling wildlife regulation on Earth. The lobstermen had no idea they were breaking the law. Yet three of them got eight years apiece. Two are still in jail...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on August 05, 2010 (boomark / email).