Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / Aug. 29, 1981, edition 1 / Page 16
Part of The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
16 THE CAROLINA TIMES SAT., AUGUST 2C 1981 A View From Capitol Hill: ) v ; America Ranks Third In Rate of Incarceration Follows Soviet Union, South Africa By Gus Savage Member of Congress The United States has the dubious distinction of being one of the world's leaders with respect to its rate of incarceration. Only the Soviet Union and South Africa surpass us. There is another statistic involving the criminal justice system that I find alarming: the amount of moneyspent and projected for prison construction. Congressman John Conyers of Michigan, an outspoken member of the House Committee of the Judiciary, has reported that the prison building pro gram in this decade could cost from $6 to $7 billion. As recent as 1978, the Federal Bureau of Prisons asked Congress for a construction budget of $67.5 million. We have every reason to be concerned about. America's prisons and the rate of incarceration. There is a disproportionate number of blacks in our prisons, and the same applies to the number on death row. Conyers has an interesting theory about what the nation is doing with people it considers of no use to society. It allows them to go unemployed, it takes them into the military service, or it places them in prison. Blacks, it should be noted, are in dispropor tionate numbers in all three categories. With a greater number of blacks in our prisons, it follows then that there are more blacks serving lengthy terms. Additionally, there is a trend to set mandatory sentences in certain types of crimes and a growing mood to apply the death penalty in more situations. Numerous studies have shown that our present system of confinement does not rehabilitate people. Instead, it hardens them for more serious criminal activity. ' Conyers, a recent guest on my radio program, said that the courts are part of the problem in the criminal justice system. It takes the courts too long to give the accused his or her day in court. Most of the judges are white. And. a fonvprc tv-inH the jury offers little more. Instead of having his case heard by one of his peers, the black defendant often faces an all-white jury. There is another aspect about crime that annoys me. We hear of crimes of violence and street crimes We all deplore these actions., On the other hand, we hear very little about the crimes that have a greater impact on the nation's economy. Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark said in a recent report that most of ihe crimes that the public hears about V street crimes for example repre sent only, a small percentage of the total dollar loss A report Teleased by the U.S. Chamber of Com merce in the mid-1970s showed that white collar crime is four times greater than street crimes in terms of annual dollar loss to the nation's economy. This was somewhere in the neighborhood of $44 billion versus $4 billion. V,- I agree with my colleague and friend Conyers that if this country is going tor continue the imprison ment of people, it has a moral obligation to better equip them for a useful life as a member of society when they leave our penal institutions. Chief Justice - Burger advocates this point of view.' i 4- If some kind of real rehabilitation is going to result, more money must be directed toward educating inmates and providing them a chance to learn viable job skills. r -i ;-f Finally, more alternatives to incarceration should be explored. Among those suggested by Con gressman Conyers are restitution, day fines, and community service orders. Moreover, we should do further research into the relationship between crime and poverty. friendly under Presidents Senghor and Jawara. But over the years Senegal came to find disadvantages in the ex istence of an indepen dent country within its borders. For one thing, there were occasional worries about the smuggling of luxury goods into Senegal from Banjul, which for a time main tained considerably lower tariffs. More im portantly, Gambia forms a wedge between the - ij .v. .XII . Irlrt a better mixed drink- with PrmaHo tv , ....... j- i i 7tZ ",u'vuiiuuuiiy gin, vodka or bourbon. They're three ways 7 to really improve your spirits. GambiaSenegal (Continued from Page 13) relationship Senegalese heartland and the Casamance region, traditionally hostile to the central government and a hotbed of political opposition to former President Senghor. In addition, Senegalese leaders feared that leftist forces deter mined to topple the government might, use Gambia as a rear base. It was this anxiety in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, that led to the signing of a mutual defense treaty in 1967. population as the root causes of the turmoil. Gambia's ec6nomic mainstay, peanut cropp ing, has been in decline for some years, and the 1980-81 harvest was down some 40. Efforts to diversify the economy have also fallen on troubled times: drought has plagued other food crops and plans for a mining industry have yet,, to get off the drawing board. - v -. . The government has invested heavily in tourism, but revenues in this sector are also wan ing. Many of the jobs generated have been taken by expatriates, and , the need to import large quantities of expensive foods and other luxury items has cut into the foreign exchange earn ings that tourism was supposed to generate. Even more telling have been the negative social ; consequences. Tourism has led to increased pro blems with alcoholism and prostitution. And the example of European visitors serves to under mine tradition in what was predominantly a Muslim country. As the London Guar- dian noted in a recent editorial: "A tourist is likely to spend more in a couple of days than the Gambia's annual GNP of $230 a head. It needs little more contrast than that to set off a revolu- 1 tionary movement." Gambia's political op position, now in serious disarray following last November's crackdown . and the tense post-coup . atmosphere, may now 1 j CHECKING VITH INTEREST Is one of many ways we offer where your money can work for you! Just ask for our "Now Account': brochure at any of our conven ient locations. We want you to see if checking with interest is right for vou. because with us... 1 You're Somebody MECHANICS & FARMERS BANK Bjjaecilall? iSi; r ;1l6"Wlirrlili Strnt .615 FmttwHJa SUMf M E. Ciiapal Hilj Strtrt Mima I owmtii regroup to , fight ' the newly-proposed 'con federation. They tkve charged Jawara 's regime . with ; mismanagement , and corruption, i , and some recent visitors to the country agree that these grievances have validity the discrepan cy in income between government officials and the average Gambian continues to widen. In any case, observers expect the continued presence o f Senegalese troops in Banjul to force Gambians v 'and Senegalese ali ke of all Recalls one . Gambian political analyst. "The irony of this agreement, which has become all of a sudden so important, is that it was specifically formulated to protect the interests of Senegal and the Gambians were not at all interested in it!". The attitude in Banjul, "'however, had changed remarkably by last November. In , that month, President Jawara invoked the threat to call in a small contingent of Senegalese troops to pro tect the country from what he termed a 'Li byan invasion threat.' At the same time, the heads of state banned two radical opposition par ties, the Movement for Justice in Africa (MO JA) and the Socialist Revolutionary Party of Kukli Samba Sanyang, the man who emerged as a key figure in the July 30 coup attempt. The re-entry of the Senegalese earlier this month got a mixed reac tion around the conti nent. Many on the political left see prin cipally selfrinterest in Senegal's gesture: a desire to foreclose the possibility of a revolu tionary regime within its borders. Eight of Senegal's nine opposi tion parties, in fact, jointly condemned the intervention as a "Flag! ant violation of the rights of the Gam bian people to determine their own destiny." Surprisingly, however, several ., governments, noted for . their socialist ..... r- ft 1 i'-l;, r i i -1 hi i ii ii i - r i in i i mi I ' r v Jaw Handling A demonstrator is wrenched from the field by a policeman before Ihe start of the Rugby international match between New Zealannd and South Africa in Christchurch, New Zealand August 15. About 200 demonstrators ran on to the field to be repelled by police. New Zealand won 14-9. UPI Photo sympathies, commended the Senegalese action, among them Tanzania and Guinea Bissau. Tan zanian President Nyerere cited the importance of protecting a democratically-elected government. The character of the rebellion itself remains much in dispute, with varying estimates of the popular support enjoyed by Sanyang's group. But nearly all sources cite serious economic dif- A Third Party We have three parties in Washington -- Republi can, Democrat and the cocktail. The latter seems to have more followers. -Commonwealth, Miss. We Welcome Your Club & Social News ficulties and a general to take a nard look at the malaise amongst the idea thai their futures political persuasions may be bound together. Business (Continued from Page 14) entrepreneurs or because their tax laws or regulations are better than ours, but because they have been able to create an environment where workers are interested in working together in quality control circles to improve group, productivity." Putting Ford workers together- with their counterparts across the country and of their plant is a pretty good jump in the right direction to meet this type of com petition. "These people (getting on board the plane) in essence will be training our people (back at the San Jose plant)," observes McGrath. Making the workers capable of produc ing at the "highest level of quality to (be) obtained," is Robert's and Ford Motor Company's commitment to the car buying consumer. Plain Talk News about hap penings of your club or social events should be in office not later than Monday at 5 p.m. of the week of publication. (Continued from Page 15 suggestion. 6) Don't use violent language. You can be frank but still friendly. 7) Whenever you can, use something from your own experience to back up a point. 8) Appeal to the reader's basic ideals, like justice, mercy, and a sense of fair play. 9) Help throw light on areas of fact that news coverage tends to miss. 10) Sign your name and address. The editor has to know where the letter is coming from. 1 1) Send it to the editor of other newspapers in other cities, if you want to. But always send an uiiginai, noi a caroon cony. 3 7 y : 7 - '7- j . v Lib tt) JiHiblc ytmr clwnccs for success after ctl!cBe' ' Enroll in Army ROTC tiKlay. You'll receive leadership and management traininf,'. Financial assistance. And scholarship opportunities. More importantly, with Army ROTC, you can graduate with an officer s commission and a colleKe degree two credentials that can help double your chances tor success in tomorrow's competitive job market. For more information about Army ROTC . -contact the Professor of Military Science. m 10
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 29, 1981, edition 1
16
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75