Drug incarcerations, prison overcrowding, and community corrections America’s prisons are overflowing. According to the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2007 over 1.5 million people were imprisoned in state and federal jails, up from 320,000 in 1980. Twenty-five percent of current prisoners were convicted of drug crimes – possession and distribution – compared to just six percent in 1980. ... Read More
Daring to end homelessness While the recent collapse of the U.S. housing market has prompted a renewed debate about American homeownership and its future, the related topic of homelessness has remained largely ignored. Hundreds of thousands of citizens live lives of addiction and mental illness on the streets of American cities. On any given day, 900,000 people — including 200,000 ... Read More
The power of Limbaugh, and what Obama plans to do about it Amid the turmoil that historians may label the Battle of the Stimulus, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) did something unthinkable, at least for a Republican congressman: he publicly rebuked Rush Limbaugh. The conservative faithful did not look kindly on Gingrey’s comments, and he soon appeared on Limbaugh’s radio program ... Read More
A changing legal landscape In American history civil rights issues have often found their footing in the high courts. Decisions such as the recent Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts’ ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in Goodrige v. Department of Public Health exemplify the courts’ ability to swiftly expand civil rights. However Proposition 8 in California, which amended the state’s constitution to ... Read More
The everyday values of George W. BushBy Ian Merrifield ’12 Much of George W. Bush’s success in the 2000 and 2004 elections came from his remarkable ability to connect with American voters. Compared to Al Gore and John Kerry, President Bush looked and sounded much more like someone whom the typical American voter would “like to have a beer with.” ... Read More
