http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-prisons-20110526,0,6293602.story

Computer errors let violent California prisoners go free

A computer system that lacked key information about inmates factored in the release of an estimated 450 prisoners with a “high risk of violence,” according to the California inspector general.

Since Iran was brought up,
(tongue in cheek) Problem – overcrowding. Solution – move population to new territory, in this case, a penal colony. Problem with that is Australia is already taken. Ah ha! Send them to Iran!
(tongue still stuck in cheek. Mom told me it would stick like that.)

>”Hugo S. Cunningham on SCOTUS approves Ninth Circuit prisoner-overcrowding order”

This statement is not really true. I did suggest the SCOTUS decision provides a good occasion to repeal Drug Prohibition (and other prosecutions of victimless offenders). I said nothing about the wisdom of the court order itself.

Then technically, they are not there because they smoked a joint, but a combination of convictions.

[…]

>Not everyone, or even most people, in prison in the US have >committed violent crimes. The vast majority are non-violent drug >offenders.

Somewhat true for Federal prisoners (about 55% drug cases), but *not* true for the larger population in 50 State prison systems (nearer 20%). Even so, getting rid of that 20% would get California most of the way to compliance with the court order.

The key word should be “victimless,” not “non-violent.” Habitual thieves and burglars, turned back on the street, do more damage than the cost of locking them up.

Some such thieves, however, are junkies who might clean up their act if not raising money for exorbitant black-market drug prices. Switzerland has found that medically supervised drug maintenance lowers both crime and unemployment rates.

This is the USA, and here we’re supposed to hold our government to a higher standard than third world dictatorships.