Prisons are a sad necessity of the civilized world, but the United States and Montana lock up 5-15 times as many people, per capita, as other democracies. Prisons should exist to protect the citizens from the truly violent, and to provide for the rehabilitation of those that would make victims of their neighbors or the larger society. Our prisons too often fail to rehabilitate, and merely return people to their communities with no more understanding or concern for their victims than they had when they first committed their crimes. Our justice system must do more to ensure that prisoners have the resources and knowledge to make a fresh start and not return to their destructive behaviors.
Far too many people are incarcerated for non-violent drug offences. They crowd the prisons and they are often reinforced or "educated" to become even worse or "more successful" criminals after they are released. Violence is endemic in our prisons, along with AIDS, hepatitis, and other incurable diseases.
Our focus on drug prevention should be medical, not criminal. We should focus on harm reduction and humane treatment for drug users, not prison time. Mandated treatment should be the preferred mode of dealing with those who cannot control their use of harmful drugs. By taking the profits out of the illegal drug trade, we can end it or diminish it to insignificance, along with all the violence, sexual slavery, and other vices which accompany it.
We believe that medical and other responsible, personal use of marijuana and other traditional medicines should be decriminalized, taxed, and regulated. Just as in the 1920's, Prohibition has resulted in an exponential rise in crime and violence. Most of us have friends or family whose lives have been destroyed by felony drug convictions and prison sentences, as much or more than the by the drugs, themselves.
We must remember that those in prison are people just like us with all the same inalienable rights. They should have access to adequate healthcare (including drug treatment) and education; they should not have to fear torture or violence. The Montana Green Party opposes mandatory minimum sentences, "three strike" laws and the unfair asset forfeiture laws that affect even those who have never been convicted of a crime. We believe that privately run for-profit prisons are dangerous and ill advised; they do not provide those incarcerated with the incentives they need to improve their lives.
The United States has long been a strong voice for human rights around the world, but we must look inward and improve our own policies. The United States is the only nation in the world that sanctions the execution of minors and one of the few in the developed world that still imposes capital punishment. We believe that the death penalty is barbaric and that we as a nation can and must end it.