Friday, March 23, 2012

The Real Reason People End Up in Prison

Sociologists and psychologists specializing in criminal pathology have created tottering piles of books and studies purporting to explain America's extraordinarily high percentages of incarceration.  Draconian drug laws, ease of obtaining weaponry, single motherhood--blah, blah, blah . . .

After months living among felons at the Fresno Rescue Mission I can now reveal the main reason men end up in prison:  when plotting a caper (stealing food, selling contraband, buying drugs) they huddle together in pairs and groups, eyes darting about, heads jerking nervously, voices lowered to hoarse but quite audible whispers.  In short, they always look and act like a group of kids planning to raid a tree house and steal its store of Jolly Ranchers and Twizzlers.   Of course they get put away.  I'd warn them about this behavior if I wasn't afraid of getting thumped.

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