Yep. And then there are people like this poor guy.
http://www.jacksonprogressive.com/issues/mokhiberweissman/snickers041100.html

Stole ONE snickers candybar and ends up with a 16 year prision sentence.
There are many guys doing life with no parole for similar things - one guy I saw in a 20/20 interview that got caught shoplifting something that was worth a whopping $3. Well it was his 3rd petty crime so they turned it into a felony. Well that made it his 3 felony and 3 strikes you're out so he's doing life with no parole for it. Meanwhile the dude in the cell next to him who got drunk, decided to get in his car and drive around, ends up killing 3 kids on bikes, does 5 years and goes home. I guess to me there is a difference between being 'soft on crime' and having the punishment actually FIT the crime! Especially this drug-war-joke.

>I've read and watched much about the war on drugs. Started in the Regan days. And now no politician feels safe on standing up against it because he will look soft on crime. Hence more govt budget goes to prisons then to schools.
>
>The shocking part was seeing people who felt the need to sell some drugs because they had become unemployeed, were close to penniless. They got caught for selling just enough to force them to go to prison for 20-30yrs. While people I feel have committed far worse crimes go free to make room for them.
>
>>>>> There are too many criminals in the US. If you compare it to any other western country, the US is far more criminal.
>>>>
>>>>Well there are more laws here than anywhere else too. More laws = more laws to break = more criminals. Plus the police here are actually effective (ya know, if you call them they actually DO show up, most of the time anyway.. if they're not to busy beating an innocent motorist or shooting an unarmed guy 50 times).
>>>
>>>Nice try. but murders are criminal acts everywhere and murders occur in the US far more than any other western countries. There is enough prove that the US has a violent society.
>>>
>>>Walter,
>>
>>Good point Walter - I stand corrected. Perhaps the USA has a higher rate of volent crimes, but how many people do we have locked up for many years for victimless crimes? That's one thing that bothers me, they have to let some werdio child-molester out to make room for the guy caught selling 20 bucks worth of drugs.