Tag: Georgia

Smart on Crime

On By southwerkIn Opinion

Smart on Crime

Oregon Prosecutors Vie For Reduced Drug Sentences | ThinkProgress

Increasingly, conservatives who have historically followed a “tough on crime” mantra are embracing a “smart on crime” approach that reallocates resources to move away from over-criminalization and towards more efficient, effective criminal laws. Earlier this month, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed two laws that embrace alternatives to incarceration to nonviolent drug and property offenders, and eliminate jail time for juveniles who merely misbehave. And ten bipartisan members of Congress have formed a committee devoted to over-criminalization.

Oregon Prosecutors Vie For Reduced Drug Sentences | ThinkProgress

A few years ago, it was not clear whether or not America’s preoccupation with long prison sentences for even minor crimes would even be possible of change. But now, there is a definite away from such policies as “three strikes,” etc. It is one of the most historically important changes in the history of criminal justice in the United States.

Over the past forty years, we went from a nation that relied much more heavily on rehabilitation to a nation with the highest incarceration in the world. That high incarceration emasculated state budgets causing cuts in all kinds of traditional services and made it impossible for states to deal with long term problems like deteriorating infrastructure.

I am delighted that these policies are changing. The freed up human potential and the enormous sums of money available because of these changes will make American a better place to live.

James Pilant

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More Evidence that the Susan G. Komen’s Decision to Cut Off Planned Parenthood was Political

On By southwerkIn Politics

I have written recently that I believed that the decision to defund Planned Parenthood was motivated by politics. It appears that my belief in the politicalization of the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s grant giving is well justified. Read this from Jeffrey Goldberg writing for The Atlantic.

Top Susan G. Komen Official Resigned Over Planned Parenthood Cave-In – Jeffrey Goldberg – Health – The Atlantic

But three sources with direct knowledge of the Komen decision-making process told me that the rule was adopted in order to create an excuse to cut off Planned Parenthood. (Komen gives out grants to roughly 2,000 organizations, and the new “no investigations” rule applies to only one so far.) The decision to create a rule that would cut funding to Planned Parenthood, according to these sources, was driven by the organization’s new senior vice president for public policy, Karen Handel, a former gubernatorial candidate from Georgia who is staunchly anti-abortion and who has said that since she is “pro-life, I do not support the mission of Planned Parenthood.” (The Komen grants to Planned Parenthood did not pay for abortion or contraception services, only cancer detection, according to all parties involved.) I’ve tried to reach Handel for comment, and will update this post if I speak with her.

Top Susan G. Komen Official Resigned Over Planned Parenthood Cave-In – Jeffrey Goldberg – Health – The Atlantic

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Cherokee tax chief quits to avoid foreclosing on more friends (via AJC)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

From AJC – Cherokee County News:

Fields, 62, became a poignant reminder of the housing bust’s impact on thousands of lives across metro Atlanta, where almost 100,000 properties were foreclosed on in 2010. Property owners are not the only ones hurt; so are people, such as Fields, at the end of a ruinous process set in motion by recession.

“I was foreclosing on the homes of people I have known my entire life,” Fields said Monday, two weeks after he walked away from his job but still carrying its burden. “I tried to do all I could to help them. But there’s only so much you can do. Your job is to collect taxes.”

In the good times Fields said he seldom dealt with bad news. “There were almost no foreclosures, and the tax digest was in great shape,” he said. “We would have collected 97 percent of taxes by the end of the year.”

Then, about a year ago, the gravity of the downturn gripped him and wouldn’t let go. A man who described himself as “normally happy and upbeat” was suddenly nauseated all the time. He didn’t have any energy. Daily events he once took in stride turned into crisis after crisis.

“I would talk to somebody or deal with something, a foreclosure or a lien, and I would just have to step out of the office to regain my composure,” he said.

Sometimes, our bodies or our minds tell us to stop doing what we’ve been doing. This appears to be one of those cases.

Many of us believe we live in a world of hard, cold facts and reasonable decisions arrived at after due consideration. Well, guess what, the heart has its own rhythms and its own needs. Sometimes those take precedence.

James Pilant

 

A View On The Mortgage Fiasco From A Georgia Professor

On By southwerkIn business ethics, Capitalism, ethics, White Collar Crime

What’s the academic view point on this disaster you might ask. Well, one sign is this professor’s comments from the University of Georgia. It’s a brief comment and there are no commercials. Enjoy –

James Pilant