Hey, everybody! I don't know if you heard, but socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) wants to abolish the prison system because..."Jim Crow, American apartheid, & slavery?" Oh, right. Silly me. I forgot. When you don't have an actual argument, just claim racism and everything will work out for you - at least among politicians and the bought-and-paid for media.
Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter - again - on Monday in order to inform everyone just how racist the prison system is. Never mind the fact that President Donald Trump's administration did something that the previous few presidents could have but didn't - pass prison reform.
Here's Ocasio-Cortez's tweet, followed by a subsequent tweet further explaining her "logic":
Mass incarceration is our American reality. It is a system whose logic evolved from the same lineage as Jim Crow, American apartheid, & slavery.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 7, 2019
To end it, we have to change.
That means we need to have a real conversation about decarceration & prison abolition in this country. https://t.co/9E9NTAmBNi
I know the term “prison abolition” is breaking some people’s brains. The right is already freaking out.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 7, 2019
Yet the US incarcerates more than anywhere in the world.
We have more than enough room to close many of our prisons and explore just alternatives to incarceration.
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First of all, many people in jailed or in prison don’t belong there at all.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 7, 2019
Whether it’s punitive sentencing for marijuana possession or jailing people for their poverty & letting the rich free through systems like cash bail, we wrongly incarcerate far, far too many people.
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Secondly, our prison & jail system is so large bc we use them as de facto mental hospitals, homeless shelters, & detox centers instead of *actually* investing in... mental health, housing, edu, & rehab.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 7, 2019
If we invested meaningfully, what do you think would happen to crime?
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Lastly, people tend to say “what do you do with all the violent people?” as a defense for incarcerating millions.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 7, 2019
Our lawmaking process means we come to solutions together, &either way we should work to an end where our prison system is dramatically smaller than it is today.
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Except, we already came together for solutions to crime. They're called laws, and if you break one serious enough, you go to a magic place where you face the repercussions of your actions. It's called personal responsibility, and if you can't do the time, don't do the crime.
Are there actual injustices in our justice system? Of course. Mistakes occur, judges legislate from the bench and a select few dirty cops will unjustly arrest people. But that is the exception, not the rule.
Ocasio-Cortez complains of prison overcrowding from sentences being passed down for people that supposedly "don't belong there at all." As said earlier, that's why the Trump administration already did something about that when they passed the First Step Act back in December 2018. About 4,000 inmates were scheduled for release in July, only three months ago.
Maybe Ocasio-Cortez and her ilk are just jealous that they weren't the ones who came up with the new Act, so they turn an issue that's already being addressed into a national emergency because racism or something.
H/T: Washington Examiner