1 in 39 Americans are in prison. We have the largest prison population in the world. Many more have criminal records. You can asked to have your record expunged after a period of time. If you have no further convictions should we automatically clear your record after x number of years? Of course there would be exceptions but does it seem right that a person can be convicted for a crime like drug possession at 18 and have a record for life? Which is more serious a drug possession with a record for life or a DUI that drops from you driving record? There needs to be room for balance.
I hate friggin' crybabies2007-01-13T12:52:52Z
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I agree. Anything that doesn't involve murder, rape, sexual assualt or pedophilia should be expunged from your record after maybe 10 years.
I'm not sure any crime should be removed from your record. The best lessons people have is facing the consequences of their actions. I think drug possession and drinking and driving are bad enough crimes to keep it on your record for life.
I think after you prove you have learnt your lesson and you have shown yourself to be a productive member of society that you should have your record removed,,. Having said that,, how can you become a productive member if you cant get a job because you have a rap sheet... This has got to be the biggest reason for repeat offences. People have to eat.. Its time we changed the,, "you should have thought of that before you committed your crime" attitude and help cons to become productive if that's the path they wish to go. So yes I agree with you
If you are referring to the United Statesian population as suppose to 'American' then
"There were 726 inmates for every 100,000 U.S. residents by June 30, 2004, compared with 716 a year earlier, according to the report by the Justice Department agency. In 2004, one in every 138 U.S. residents was in prison or jail; the previous year it was one in every 140." http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-04-24-prison-population_x.htm
Now, as for the American prison population you could get an idea by visiting the crime page of NationMaster http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_tot_cri-crime-total-crimes you will see that as United Statesians we are the most criminal nation in the world by far. For instance, although Russia has about half as many people they only have one tenth the crime rate we have and their standard of living is well below ours. We need the tough laws we have.