Why Have Prisons At All?

Sometimes, just when I think I heard from a really dumb group of people, another group of even more retarded people comes along. Such is the case with an organization called "The Clean Slate Committee."

Following the ugly killings in Cheshire last summer which revealed serious deficits in our criminal justice system, most sane people want to tighten things up so repeat offenders are locked up longer, and have the parole system tightened up as well. But not this "social justice" organization based in Hartford.

This group called on Governor Rell to attend a meeting they hosted this past week, and to respond to four demands by yesterday. According to the New Haven Register, those demands are as follows:

"• Set up a commission to study the impact of parole, probation and re-entry policies and comprise the commission of ex-offenders and relatives of former inmates, human service providers, representatives from the state Department of Correction, legislators and other governmental bodies.

• Refrain from new directives, including "three-strikes" law reform, pending findings of the commission.

• Reverse directives on the parole ban on violent offenders, use of GPS tracking devices, and possible release of non-violent offenders to halfway houses or other forms of supervision because they have not received reintegration services.

• Attend the "Community Conversation" later this month."

Fascinating. So these guys are going the other way with this. Most people see a reason to be harder on criminals, and these folks want to go the soft route.

Okay. They have willing accomplices in the Democratic party who have taken absolutely no action on calls to make immediate reforms.

They want us to "refrain" from a three strikes law. Great, how about ten strikes and then we frown really hard at you? They want us to avoid the use of GPS tracking devices. But of course! Sex offenders need their privacy.

These folks care about the criminals, not the victims. And that's pathetic.