Obama's Tragic Let 'em Out Fantasy - A Review

We are indebted to Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute for her excellent opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal on Sunday, October 24, 2015, which serves as a warning against the planned one-time release of 6,000 federal prisoners.  She excoriates President Obama for his "preposterous conceit" in equating his own casual drug use with the offenses committed by federal prisoners.  Ms. Mac Donald sets the record straight, with statistics and facts: 

• The U.S. has much higher crime rates than European nations.

• Drug treatment programs do not prevent probationers and parolees from committing crimes.

• Violent criminals and serial thieves make up a large percentage of prison inmates, contrary to one de-incarceration myth.

• Hispanics, not African Americans, are more likely arrested for drug crimes.

• Aggressive policing is more likely to reduce crime, but nearly every police and prosecutorial practice is under fire from the left.

• Demonizing the police is counter-productive and needs to stop.

• The role of incarceration in reducing American crime will be tested with the release of thousands of federal prisoners.

• Ms. Mac Donald believes, "We are playing with fire."

According to some research, crime rates go up when a court-ordered release puts many prisoners at once back out on the street. This largest one-time release of 6,000 federal prisoners ought to provide an excellent experiment ... let's see what we learn, and whether we as a society have to learn the hard way.