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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories 10 things to know for Wednesday, March 18 Ashland Kiwanis recognizes Samara Diab Best-selling author Jance to visit Ashland City seeks comment on possible pot growing rules Hands-On work with robots at ScienceWorks Education Ashland Kiwanis recognizes Samara Diab Hands-On work with robots at ScienceWorks Breaking ground on organic vineyard practices Students share debt frustrations at summit meeting Southern Oregon University: Recent and pending projects at SOU total about $132 million Environment Wild Side: Selfish and other reasons for saving endangered species Mt. Ashland Ski Area: Low snow closes 'bunny hill' chairlift for beginning skiers With pre-season conditions worst in 25 years, catastrophic wildfires expected in region this summer Legislature might be divided on clean fuels bill, but these Ashlanders weren't Ashland Rowing Club members put their backs into Emigrant Lake clean-up Business Breaking ground on organic vineyard practices Southern Oregon University: Recent and pending projects at SOU total about $132 million Test Drive: 2015 Subaru Outback Limited Silvio Calabi: 2015 Cherokee is a modern Jeep Ride & Drive: 2015 Hyundai Genesis Politics and elections Arthur I. Cyr: South Korea represents long-term triumph – for them and for US Mark L. Hopkins: Looking for a political straight shooter Oregon's governor appoints new secretary of state Ballots on Jackson County marijuana tax go out today Kate Brown sworn in as Oregon's 38th governor State News Oregon's governor appoints new secretary of state Kate Brown sworn in as Oregon's 38th governor Nation - World Leonard Nimoy, famous as Mr. Spock on 'Star Trek,' dies Obituaries Death Notices Shiela R. Ettlich Karen June Shaw Death Notices Death Notices Shareable Bank of America is predicting a massive Tesla collapse Mars One attracts science fiction geeks and people who hate society Sports Latest Stories Fredrickson leads Grizzlies to season-opening romp Thompson, Weber to play in all-star game Beavers get No. 3 seed, host NCAA games Fantasy Sports: Mike Trout clear star of young outfield crop Ashland footgolf event gives players a new way to get around the links High school Fredrickson leads Grizzlies to season-opening romp Grizz alpine skiers finish strong at state Ashland High's Honsinger tops field in final nordic ski meet Grizz snowboard team heads to state with repeat potential Grizzlies let second-half lead slip away in season-ending loss to CV Southern Oregon University Thompson, Weber to play in all-star game Beavers get No. 3 seed, host NCAA games Young shoots Ducks into Pac-12 title game Raider softball team opens league play with split at Northwest West's 32 powers No. 21 Southern Oregon into Elite Eight Voices Latest Stories Landgren cartoon: Boston gets a ‘Frozen’ sequel Our View: SOU's economic clout Letters to the Editor, March 18 Letters to the Editor, March 17 Landgren cartoon: Sunshine Week Editorial Our View: SOU's economic clout Our view: Keep it simple in developing marijuana rules Our View: Ashland is at risk as a bad fire season looms Our View: Ashland backs residents over visitors in lodging decision Our View: No need for blame in Hannah Thomas-Garner case Letters Letters to the Editor, March 18 Letters to the Editor, March 17 Letters to the Editor, March 14 Letters to the Editor, March 12 Letters to the Editor, March 11 Guest opinions Guest Opinion: Ashland is asking for trouble with new room rental rules Guest Opinion: More reasons to oppose Jordan Cove Guest Opinion: It's Groundwater Awareness Week; test your well Guest Opinion: Ashland schools failed to protect my son from bullying Guest Opinion: There is nothing uniform about the Uniform Crime Report Columns Guest Opinion: Ashland is asking for trouble with new room rental rules Council Corner: City considers the sharing economy Herb Rothschild Jr.: Demonizing Putin makes case for war Guest Opinion: More reasons to oppose Jordan Cove Jeffrey Gillespie: The opaqueness of Hillary Clinton Chris Honore Council Corner Editor's Notes Jeffrey Gillespie Herb Rothschild Revels Latest Stories Community blog: Herzog scholarship for young writers Movie listings: March 13-18 Nitty Gritty Dirt Band co-founder John McEuen performs at the Unitarian Fellowship in Ashland Thanks for the Memories presents 'Anastasia' Community blog: Take a peek at poet Scott Wozniak Theater Theater review: Thanks for the Memories pulls off challenging 'Anastasia' in Ashland Ticket availability Ticket Availability Ticket Availability Ticket availability Music The Farr Side: Madonna — ever the trendsetter Nitty Gritty Dirt Band co-founder John McEuen performs at the Unitarian Fellowship in Ashland Alice DiMicele plays Unitarian Fellowship The Farr Side: Another career highlight for Kelly Clarkson Music on the Mountain: Ski area launching concert series Visual Art Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhiits by regional artists Movies 8 must-see spring films Movie review: ‘Wrecking Crew’ is a look at the people who really put the bomp Movie review: ‘Cinderella’ is an instant classic Shailene Woodley returns as Tris in ‘Insurgent’ Movie listings: March 13-18 Food and Drink Sammich does it Chicago-style Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories Page H. Onorato: How food names came into being Tammy Kelly: Healthy leftover ham Lost in Suburbia: Top 10 reasons I like my dog better than my kids Dear Monty: Tips for checking out an existing septic system 5 Things to Do This Weekend (March 20-22) Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs Business Business Services NEWS NOW Our View: SOU's economic clout ... City seeks comment on possible pot growing rules ... Daily Tidings Haiku Corner: Week of March 16-21 ... Our View: SOU's economic clout ... City seeks comment on possible pot growing rules ... Daily Tidings Haiku Corner: Week of March 16-21 ... Matthew T. Mangino: Leniency or smart punishment strategy Comment By Matthew T. Mangino More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Matthew T. Mangino More Content Now Posted Mar. 13, 2015 at 7:57 AM By Matthew T. Mangino More Content Now Posted Mar. 13, 2015 at 7:57 AM » Social News As prisons continue to grow and states struggle to pay the costs, the disastrous consequences of the prison industrial complex have come into focus. In 1998, Eric Schlosser, in an Atlantic Monthly article, defined the prison industrial complex as “a set of bureaucratic, political, and economic interests that encourage increased spending on imprisonment, regardless of the actual need.” The prison industrial complex has fueled the increasing number of Americans in state and federal prisons over the past three decades. Although the rate of growth has slowed, the problem is clearly evident in 17 states where the prison population is now higher than the capacity of the facilities designed to hold them, reported The Washington Post. The number of persons in local jails declined in 2013 according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The news was not all good: The state prison population grew by more than 4,000. The future looks bleak as well. According to the Justice Policy Institute, one in every 15 Americans born in 2001 is expected to serve at least a year in prison during their lifetime. The news is equally bleak on the federal level. The Bureau of Prisons is more than 30 percent over capacity, and the cost of federal prisons has increased by more than 1,100 percent. A bipartisan group of senators has introduced the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2015 to modernize federal drug sentencing policies by giving federal judges more discretion in sentencing those convicted of nonviolent drug offenses. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that implementation of the act would save taxpayers approximately $3 billion in corrections costs over 10 years. In response, U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, lamented what he called the leniency industrial complex. He suggested the Smarter Sentencing Act is a weak attempt to defend the indefensible. Supporters of the Act “gloss over the fact that even if an offender was not violent in a particular case, he may have committed a prior violent offense that would make him in fact violent … many drug-related crimes occur through force or the threat of force or are conducted by people in a criminal enterprise that relies on violence.” On the state level, efforts are ongoing to address prison overcrowding. In 2010, the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance launched the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, with funding appropriated by Congress. The JRI State Assessment Report, released by the Urban Institute in January 2014, showed that 17 JRI states are making steady progress toward reducing correctional spending and reinvesting in recidivism-reduction strategies. Although projected savings vary, the report estimates that savings could amount to as much as $4.7 billion over a 10-year period. A group studying overcrowding in Alabama’s prisons has found that arrests are declining and sentences are getting shorter. But Alabama’s prisons remain at nearly double their designed capacity. The Council of State Governments told The Montgomery Advertiser that the average length of an inmate’s prison term before parole release has increased from 30 months in 2009 to 43 months in 2014. The number of eligible inmates being released has also fallen from about 42 percent in 2009 to 36 percent in 2013. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo took the bold step of taking on the prison industrial complex during his January state of the state address. “An incarceration program is not an employment program,” Cuomo said. “Don’t put other people in prison in order to give some people jobs.” While Sen. Grassley raises the specter of the leniency industrial complex, he ignores the pervasive abuse brought on by the prison industrial complex. Whole families and entire communities are devastated when the coercive influence of government is used for the gain of a select few. Matthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly & George. His book “The Executioner’s Toll, 2010” was released by McFarland Publishing. You can reach him at mattmangino.com and follow him on Twitter at @MatthewTMangino. By Matthew T. Mangino More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Matthew T. 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