JAILING PEOPLE AT NO. 1 RATE ISN'T A SOLUTION TO CRIME

EDITOR: The Marathon County jail is overcrowded -- again? Marathon
County is far from a crime-ridden area. Something isn't right.

In 2004, the United States incarcerated 2.2 million people in its
prisons and jails. Among industrialized nations, the United States
incarcerates the largest percentage of its population. We're No. 1!

In 2005, our Unitarian Universalist Association adopted a sweeping
new policy statement on criminal justice and prison reform. The
statement issued a broad critique of the criminal justice system and
called for numerous reforms, including ending mandatory minimum
sentencing and focusing on prevention rather than punishment. The
full text is online at www.uua.org/csw.

UUs are appalled by the gross injustices in our current criminal
justice system. We urge the reform of the criminal justice and
correctional systems to effect justice for both victims and
violators. We act in the spirit that we are indeed our sisters' and
brothers' keepers, but keeping them in jail should be a last resort.

A first step would be to end the so-called "war on drugs," which
destroys lives and squanders valuable resources incarcerating people
who haven't hurt anyone. Police instead could focus on violent crimes.

Let's make good on our American promise to be both compassionate and
just to all in our society. Let's live the core values of our country
and extend our values to the benefit of others and our community.

Mary Beth and James Maas