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Comment by JoeAltmaier | Hacker News Reader

Trouble is, it got that way one arrest at a time. Each one may seem defensible in isolation. Its only by looking at the statistics that the problem leaps out at you.

So you noticed, and wrote a blog entry. What actionable plan can we suggest? Or will we just make more blog entries. I honestly don't have any answer.

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I didn't notice; I didn't write a blog entry.

I don't even live in that country.

These are the first google hits for relevant search terms.

As for what can be done about it: the fact that people feel helpless in the face of 1 in 31 Americans being in some form of correctional control or 1 in 6 black American men having been incarcerated (as of 2001) is pretty scary.

Sucks to be them I guess.

Writing congress, writing your rep, fighting for police and justice reform, donating to the southern poverty law center http://www.splcenter.org/ and the ACLU.

I don't think the SPLC is really in the same league as the ACLU. SPLC is entirely politically motivated. The SPLC is famous for their "hate group" list. The problem is, a hate group is whatever the SPLC says it is. Their criteria are quite loose and their application of that criteria is quite loose as well. You won't find eco-terror and animal rights groups on the SPLC hate group list because it doesn't align with SPLC's political ideology. One might try to rationalize the hypocrisy by pointing out that the SPLC says it applies hate speech based on hate for "immutable characteristics" but SPLC seems fine to bend that rule to denounce anti-religious hate.

I hope anyone reading your comment and feeling generous donates to the ACLU instead of the SPLC.

> I don't think the SPLC is really in the same league as the ACLU. SPLC is entirely politically motivated.

The ACLU and SPLC are both "entirely politically motivated", being non-profit groups founded to address political issues.

The issues each is focused on, of course, are different from the other.

Writing politicians: and what solution do THEY have? Isn't that more blogging? If we're to believe social and economic forces are to blame, then justice reform is way too late to be effective. What, we stop arresting criminals because 'its society's fault'? That's the hole we've gotten ourselves into.

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