Mandatory Minimums: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
2015 ж. 25 Шіл.
8 328 872 Рет қаралды
Mandatory minimums require fixed prison sentences for certain crimes. John Oliver explains why we treat some turkeys better than most low-level offenders.
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Everyone's heard of this one, but "drugs can ruin your life. So when I catch you, I'm going to ruin your life." -police officer
The police don't have anything to do with this video it's about the discretion of the judicial branch being overlooked by legislative rulings. Listen and use your facts.
Guy Shepard except that they like it. they like it more than that judge likes it. they get fired up for their cannabis operations. get to use all their toys and shoot people maybe.
Guy Shepard ahh so the judicial branch arrested these people? And the Nazis were innocent to they were only following orders
Subflat Waytizza You're getting way off topic this has nothing to do with law enforcement it is about an issue with outdated mandatory minimum sentencing legislation. How are you not getting this? Its like I'm talking to you about corrupt senators and then you're all like, "yeah, but fuck the police though." Do you not know the difference between the three branches of government and the dual court system?
savagedragon79 In the U.S. we have a system of checks and balance, with each branch of government keeping the others in check. So if a rogue cop starts making arrests with flimsy evidence the courts keep them in check and releases the defendant. Mandatory minimum sentences undermines this by excluding the judge in the sentencing but not the outcome of the case, that is left to the jury. As for the Nazi thing, an SS officer was essentially the judge, jury and executioner and could summarily execute a Jew just for existing. Quit exaggerating.
I almost cried when that one guy was reading his pardon.
Robert Jay I feel you man. I did. our laws are horrific to our citizens.
Omy *Some* laws are *poor*. At no point are you at risk of disappearing in an unmarked van.
Joshua Harris unless you live in Chicago where you can be tortured. For some that is equivalent to disappearing in an unmarked van.
Omy Is this a law? The police are required to torture you, are they? Or are they acting outside of the law? In which case they can be brought to trial, or you can be awarded damages, as is the case in Chicago. Note that this is *not* the case in countries such as North Korea or China. But by all means, scream oppression. This doesn't mean that they don't abuse power, it means that you aren't living in a dictatorship.
Joshua Harris Christ, I say we are torturing our own people and you bring up China. GTFO.
To anyone who wanted to know, both Weldon Angelos and Sharanda Jones have been released.
TheFushme let's hope they learned their lesson.
Robert Hayes Drug users need to learn their lesson. Drug dealers are just as bad as doctors, doctors prescribe pills that kill everyday and no one gives a shit. I want to become a doctor too, so I'm not putting down doctors just pointing out drug dealers are the product of drug users and in some cases doctors.
I'm glad to hear this.
TheFushme I
I finally hear of another person named Weldin and he's a drug dealer...
Non-violent drug offenders often serve longer prison sentences than rapists. Just think about that...
That's the problem.
I actually didn't know. I still have a problem processing that information...
At least I didn't have to let that sink in. The jerk.
Bullshit. Cite your information, I don't believe everything I read on the internet.
If it helps, the rapists that actually make it to the 11 year mark alive, will have been so brutally attacked by other inmates, they'll have wished they had died....
As a criminal defense attorney, I can't thank Jon Oliver enough for doing these videos. Civil forfeiture, municipal violations, bail, and now mandatory minimums, I cannot ask for anything else. He is doing more to bring these issues to light far more than 1000 attorneys can ever do.
Jeffrey Toman can he change things though? There are massive pool of people stubbornly believing eye for an eye system, especially in US (but not exclusively), and there are cynical people exploiting that. Can people like John break the ice? I hope so. At least a bit.
Jeffrey Toman I had no idea he covered those topics, thanks for mentioning them! Now binge watching :)
Pēteris Krišjānis That type of system (eye for eye) is sooooo Bronze Age. Remember, an eye for eye makes the world blind.
+Pēteris Krišjānis An eye for an eye eh? So, if someone sells weed, YOU SELL HIM SOME WEED! Not even joking. Think about it.
+Jake Bat maricopa county sheriffs dept. has an actual M1-A1 tank. i dont know what they use it for, but they have it.
*Gets caught jaywalking* Mandatory sentence is death by ants "Seems fair"
Death by ants please
***** Death by snoo-snoo is a punishment that can only be applied to congressmen, Congress voted it so.
Jacob L Only if you're in 'Murica!
Jacob L Whilst in Canada... Child Rapist gets caught raping Mandatory sentence is 10 years and a very stern talking to... "seems legit" Can we have a happy medium please? Let's just have the sexual abusers trade sentences with the amateur weed growers.
***** That you are gonna have it 9 centuries later.
According to Google: Sharanda Jones was released in Dec 2015 (17 years served) Weldon Angelos in May 2016 (13 years served) and Kevin Ott in July 2019 (23 years served) Glad they're all out, but it's still life ruining how long they were in for drug charges. :(
All that time and for what? It's absurd. Glad they're all out.
Im relieved to hear that, thank you for sharing.
"Who gives a shit what Donald Trump says?" 2015 was indeed an easier time...
Erik Anpa def bro
Ikr it feels so long ago
erik: It still doesn't really matter what he says. I mean, he's going to be all over the new and then he will say something else stupid and everybody, including him, will forget that last stupid thing he said.
yes, now that we are in 2021 with a global pandemic, 2015 was a much simpler time.
We get to say it now! Say it with me! “Who gives a shit what Donald Trump says?” Yahoo, from April 2021!
I like how the way Obama speaks during the Turkey Pardon indicates how ridiculous he feels this is.
Joshua Thompson more ridiculous then him winning the Nobel peace prize???
@@seanpatrick8936 yes, a LOT more ridiculous...
@@seanpatrick8936 Yeah, I'm sure Dubya is laughing in MQ-9 buzzing at these comments too.
Lol i think he wanted to crack a joke so bad
@@jsmilz86 just realized. I thought he was just having a racist day
A close friend of mine had to do mandatory time in juvenile detention, simply because someone from school prank called the police and told them that he posed a serious threat and there was a terrorist attack being planned. Despite there not being any shred of evidence, as a juvenile he did not receive any real sort of legal representation, so now not only does he have a record, he can never serve in any military branch and has had his 2nd amendment rights stripped indefinitely...all because of a prank.
Ken Awamura If only the people of the USA knew that no one can take your constitutionally protected rights away, we could get our country back. At least he will serve in the military when they need more people to go die for their wars made for profit.
Well it's dumb as shit to call in a terrorist attack to the cops as a "prank". That's 2 maybe 3 crimes in a felonious police report and I'm not sure what's the name of the law is but it's illegal to say there's a terrorist attack without any prof
Nahodakk Or like... an engineer... or an army doctor.
BigNick66 It wasn't his friend that went to detention that called the cops, it was a friend of his pranking HIM.
Did the prank caller get off scot free?
Remember when we could say "who cares what Donald Trump said"
UnoriginallyInclined No
Pepperidge Farm remembers
This comment is from 2 years ago and it has only gotten more relevant
Awe, you do care what your President says
We were so young
As a law student in Argentina, I came to understand that in most countries, if you're convicted for a crime which later stops being illegal, or for which the mandatory time lowers, it applies automatically to your own sentence. It is called the "most benign law" principle. And it's used in almost all french revolution constitucion based constitutions, which is most of them.
What happens if its the other way around? If the law becomes stricter and the mandatory minimum increases or other penalty gets "upgraded" for lack of a better word?
+TCt83067695 Im not as experienced in law as the man above, but in the US i know for a fact that you cannot make the previous sentence harsher do to the fact that that would require a new trial and in the constitution it prohibits double jepordy.
+TCt83067695 Im not as experienced in law as the man above, but in the US i know for a fact that you cannot make the previous sentence harsher do to the fact that that would require a new trial and in the constitution it prohibits double jepordy.
Bebe P yeh i was keen to see if it was the same as Argentina
TCt83067695 Sorry i didnt realize, but id assume Argentina would be the same since the most benign law principle applies to Argentina as well.
Where can I buy John's book?!
Darudesandstorm.net
SkrawnyJonny Lame
Kaila Stephens Kaila, no matter how shitty his joke, putting a
SkrawnyJonny Haha!
Someone's daddy never jerked them off to sandstorm. Maybe one day
1 in 100 Americans are in jail? 1% of the entire population? That is seriously messed up. I live in Canada and my entire province has 3 jails the size of grocery stores that seem abandoned. I don't even know someone who's been in there.
CaptainSauce 1 of every 100 *adult*
Ahh yes there's the thing I wasnt seeing. Thanks
Doesn't make it better actually. The US still has the highest prison population. And it doesn't even have any positive effect. On the contrary, extreme punishments seem to worsen the situation according to studies (like criminals are more likely to tend to violence just to avoid prison - even if they get caught then it doesn't change the outcome).
"The US still has the highest prison population. " China has the highest prison population. America is in 2nd place.
Joshua Richardson while afaik you are right, that's still a very horrible rank to be in.
My dad was arrested multiple times whilst I was 3 for suspected and actual drug possession, but since we had no war on drugs in the U.K. the most he had to do was spend a week in the cells once. His punishment was usually having to go on anti-drug courses. Hasn't touched any drug that's illegal or alcohol for ten years. I still got a childhood if I lived in the U.S. that would've been taken away
Not true!!! Not all states have mandatory minimums. For instance, New Mexico is pro criminal, unfortunately. So if your criminal dad would have committed a drug crime in New Mexico, he would have never done a day in jail or prison!!!!
R ReyV Putting random drug users in jail for long amounts of time when their crime was “using drugs” is the frickin problem
@@Loveamorjesus lol what a fucking tool you are.
@@Loveamorjesus helping people healing from addiction instead of throwing them in a cell and losing the key like it'the Middle Age isn't pro-criminal. It's pro-health and justice.
Arrested multiple times in one year? Sounds like he really learned his lesson.
John Oliver's videos are literal instructions on how to undo a huge percentage of what's wrong with the US.
Word Unheard Yet everyone just keeps arguing online thinking words will change things or that things can’t be changed because they don’t know how.
Most of the time, yes. Occasionally, there's shyte in his videos, and sometimes they're just OpEd fluff pieces. But, mostly you're right.
I'm still waiting for him to do an episode on metrication (or lack thereof). I know nobody's lives really depend on this but come on. Literally everyone would be better off if America ACTUALLY switched to metric instead of just pretending to.
@@Matihood1 I think that I'd like to hear in what way our lives would be better, other than a more sensible system of measurement with an inferior temperature measurement system. Seriously, I don't have an objection to switching, but your claim really got my curiosity.
@@GlennMcGrewII Celsius isn't metric, although most places which use metric use celsius. Switch to metric and stick with celsius if you want.
No victim, no crime.
Amen
^---- His pic tho
jimmydrive Match fixing is a crime with no victims, same goes for doping and a lot of other things so, yeah, thar argument is 100% pure bullshit
***** Match fixing has no victims? Tell that to the people who bet their money based on reliable information who were deceived out of their due winnings. I'm not a fan of gambling, but those people are getting financially screwed in that situation and should have options for legal recourse, assuming gambling is legal in those cases. At the very least, the match was tainted, and everyone should get their initial money back, making it at the very least a seriously malicious waste of their time and energy that they deserve some kind of compensation for.
EricAdamIdeas Tell that to people that bet in tennis or soccer matches... or even in sumo tournaments, all those have been rigged at one point and I haven't heard of many compensations if at all
I am surprised that John didn't bring up the income inequality part of this story. Anyone who could afford a good lawyer could have had their sentence changed once those laws were repealed. The problem is that the majority of the people who are in prison for drugs do not have the ability to afford a lawyer of any kind. Many of them probably had to rely on a public defender for their original trial. If proper legal council was offered to these prisoners many of them wouldn't need a pardon in the first place.
mattbenz99 "Was offered", meaning if someone else pays for it. This does need to be changed, but not by the public footing the bill for layers to go through these by the thousands on a case by case basis. Reality and idealism very rarely coincide.
Joshua Harris Releasing a large amount of people from the prison population would save the government millions of dollars. Offering legal council to people found guilty of non violent offenses might end up saving the government more money than it costs in the long term.
mattbenz99 "Might". And that is not the issue. The government provides them with public defenders. The public is not on the hook to provide them with, as you say, "good lawyers" (your term, not mine) on top of what they have already been provided with *after* they have already been granted council, or even before. This is not an income issue, it is an issue of poor legislation. Fix it, not start writing checks. I know that everyone wants to throw money at things until problems "go away", it doesn't work like that.
Joshua Harris They were provided public defenders for their original trial yes but not for legal council after laws change. According to the law these people have already served their time and should have been released. The problem is that they have been forgotten. Also your line "fix it, not start writing checks" is ironic because of how much it costs to keep a prisoner alive in prison each year. Every prisoner in prison is the equivalent to an above the poverty line salary that can be given to a state employee. These people being in prison is literally costing jobs. Prisons are expensive and the people in them don't contribute anything to society and are just dead weight. Having the government create a temporary aid group to provide legal council to prisoners who have already served their time would be short term spending for long term gain which is the government's job. You build roads because they increase trade in the long term. I am not talking about giving every prisoner in the country a lawyer, just the ones who have been sentenced on laws that don't exist anymore (which isn't even that hard of a case to win. A law student still in school could probably do it easily considering it is a case of the government breaking its own laws due to incompetence). This will save millions of dollars and allow all of the former inmates to stop being dead weights to society and start contributing again.
According to current laws in some states. Not all states have done away with mandatory minimums. Furthermore, as they have not retroactively changed the sentencing, these people have not served their time. They are still serving it. Listen, I'm not saying I agree with the system. I'm saying that you cannot give all of them layers at public expense. Also, a law student would hardly qualify, I would imagine, as better suited than a public defendant, though that could be open to much debate.
I remember reading a story where a convicted child rapist got every other weekend in prison "because she needed to see her kids". But apparently they can't let a minor drug offender off for one day of a life sentence to watch her daughter graduate ..... WTF?!
Nerobyrne WHAT THE HELL
@Platypus well of course, we can't have equality now, what do you think this is? America?
@Platypus sure, it's part of rehabilitation. Of course it should be supervised at the beggining at least and coupled with psychological aid and such.
The child rapist can be safely incarcerated for life as they are disposable and forever a potential threat. If they never leave prison they'll never touch another child. They have no potential value to civilization. OTOH drug offender crimes are typically victimless and essentially POLITICAL offenses. (The history of drug laws bears that out.) I've seen the damage child molesters do and the only reason not to kill all we can catch is the death penalty is not reversible and very often illegally or immorally applied. Child rape damages multiple generations for life and begets more rapists. There's no practical benefit to mercy, which should always have a practical motive.
Don't you know that Drugs are Bad?
And he forgot to mention how horrific prison life can be.
He did a whole "video" on it.
+Adam L In reference to the portion of episode that results in a clip video on a specific topic. Don't be dense.
***** I put video in quotations marks because he didn't really make a video about it. He talked about it on his show and the video of that is what we see on KZhead. If you meant to say something else with your comment I am sorry for giving this answer :D
that alone would make another whole video.
He didn't forget, he just already covered it in an earlier episode.
But if you let those prisoners out and get rid of mandatory minimum sentencing... Where are the private for profit prisons going to get their profits from? Have you thought of that? Huh? Why aren't you thinking of the multi million dollar profiteers of the prison system?
Eethan O'Connell Would you be upset if I say - Fuck them?
Omy :)
I know! What will line the pockets of those poor, poor. Corporations. A plight for the ages.
Eethan O'Connell don't forget about the companies who manage the networks and phones in prisons, they make an exorbitant amount not just on prisoners but from their families.
1Rekuiem Yeah, it's a well oiled money making machine.
Mandatory sentences don't even work as a legal concept: how can ANY prison time be considered just or moral if it's OBLIGATORY, and handed down regardless of context/circumstances?!
GarlicPudding It's almost as off putting as garlic pudding.
GarlicPudding Makes the entire concept of a "Judge" meaningless.
GarlicPudding That's what the judge was trying to say '' I'm supposed to give him 55 years??? '' He didn't get a say in HIS judgement, why even ask him !? Get your shit together, America, you need help.
GarlicPudding Why not? It is deemed suitable for the crime.
GarlicPudding excatly, they tried it to see if itll work, it dint, end it.
My brother served a mandatory minimum of 85% of 12 years, which came to 10 years, 2 months, and 13 days, for stealing a twenty dollar bill. Now, I certainly do not mean to minimize his actions, but that sentence was excessive. He was holding a knife in his dope-sick hand, but did not touch his victim. He was deemed ineligible for Drug Court because he had been armed. He did his time, and started to turn around so much in the last 2 years of his term; I was so proud! I was there for him through it all, right from the start. There were so many ups and downs through the years, so many nightmares and horror stories and threats and scares... and I'm sure I don't even know half of his real story. Anyway, addiction sucks. Prison sucks. And apparently, after prison, life on the outside sucks, because he threw himself off a bridge less than 6 months after he was released. I guess a positive thing about his lockup is that his DNA was on record, and that's how they identified his body and were able to let us know we lost him...
Armed robbery is serious. He deserved his punishment
I am so sorry he and you and your family had to go through that. The whole story was upsetting but reading that at the end was gut-wrenching. No body deserves that...
What's also a problem is released prisoners can't vote! What the heck is the logic there? Are they gonna vote for a president who will legalize The Purge?
You mean Donald Trump?
No, if you look into it, it's because statistics have shown that those people would be more likely to vote Democrat so their voting "privilages" were discontinued. It was argued that it would deter criminals from criminal acts (I literally can't believe the voting public fell for that). Basically it's just more political games (like gerrymandering & closing or moving polling stations) & it doesn't matter to the people passing these ridiculous laws that "those people" are real people that still are, in America, required to get constitutionally mandated representation. Have a great day!
Tazhie, I don't disagree with your conclusion at all: everyone should have the right to vote. But your logic for the reason why felons can't vote is spurious. You are not using statistics correctly. By your logic I could say that statistics showed that ex convicts were more likely to drive inefficient cars and care less about the environment in their political views, so there vote was taken away. You use stats to form a conclusion, not the other way around. Can you give any other evidence for your claim? I'd be happy to listen. I don't know much about this subject and would mind learning.
+Patrick Hutchison Hi there Patrick. I'd love to give you the names of the several books, magazines, interviews & other source material I used for the research paper I wrote on this subject while I was in the intensive pre-law program I was in while in college but unfortunately, that was 15+ years ago now so idk if I'd be able to even find the paper so I could then find the page of source material I used so as to share it with you. Taking away voting rights for people deemed "unworthy" and/or felons has been a tool used by people in power since the first democracies were formed in Ancient Greece. It was even used in Roman times as well. The modern restorative movement to restore rights to felons in America has usually been led by the left wing. The reason felons are more likely (notice I didn't say always because people are persuaded to vote against their own interests all the time) to vote with the Democratic Party can likely be traced back to the simple fact that people who are released from prison are more likely to be in need of help for their families (even though in a lot of states they themselves would likely no longer qualify for any need based assistance because of the felony on their record.) as they try to start over until they can be a contributing member of society & their family again. The Democratic Party knows that historically people in lower economic brackets are more likely to vote for their candidates so it makes sense for that party to try restore rights for felons. It also makes political sense for right wing politicians to make voting harder for people who have a lower socioeconomic status. Most things done by either party are done simply to try help them win & very few (if any) things are done just because it's the right thing to do. It's why I belong to neither party. I hope this helps explain where I was coming from before. Have a great day!
Tazhie, even if the people are more likely to vote for the democrats... they are still people that live in the country and therefore should be allowed to vote. Everyone that lives in a country is affected by the vote and should have the right to vote. People that own a farm are probably more likely to vote for the green party then the head of an oil company, and still they both do have the right to vote. Of course people with different backgrounds are going to vote for different presidents, otherwise each canidate would have the same amount of votes. The whole point of an election is to find out which people would prefer which president. its great that you refer to the ancient greece... but back then they even drew lots for high political positions and banned people from the country by votes. and i am not sure what you are referring to with unworthy... maybe woman or slaves? But in a real democracy everyone should be allowed to vote. Of course they will vote for the party they like... even if more people that got out of prision would vote for the democrats does that mean that nobody that likes one party more then the others should be allowed to vote?
Prison should be more focused on helping the prisoners become law abiding productive citizens, instead of just throwing them in a cage.
+StariNight69 Shush, be quiet you're making to much sense. Don't you know actually caring about people in America is considered communism.
+Armendicus haha!! True!
***** naaah, stone cold steve Austin would just blow up the island and then ruin it.
***** yeah but he'd kill us for revenge.
+StariNight69 At some point, the term "correctional" has become lost when talking about "correctional institutions".
I'm just binge-watching John Oliver now. These videos are freaking fascinating.
There's so many. I keep telling myself this is the last one.
4 seasons of it to watch. Only bad part about watching on youtube is you miss the start of every show where he talks about the "last week tonight" lol. Best to watch the entire show, I just come here when i need to remember some facts about NRA or Alex Jones or something to kick someones ass in an argument.
Still binging in 2018
Started one month ago, same feeling about him :)
me too :)
Selling someone weed gets you in jail for 5 times what raping a child does? What the hell is that? Raping a child absolutely destroys a family. Selling some young adult weed gets them high for a few hours/days/weeks... That's it.
+Pierce Bivens What about when they get addicted
Still doesn't destroy 3-7 people's lives. Weed is bad, but note that you're defending child rape.
+Dilir daiyan aranna Weed is very non-addictive, so that doesn't really apply.
+Falcon4242 How do you know? Wait........ POLICE! GET OVER HERE! WE GOT AN ADDICT OVER HERE!
Selling a child drugs, you make life a bit more difficult( going to a drug rehabilitation place). Raping a child, you ruin them mentally for life.
The more I learn about how our country runs, the angrier I get. How stupid can people get? Incredibly.
Well, if this is your country, how is it you're only now learning about something that is so significant about it? You talk a big deal about your neighbours being stupid, but I would not be so quick to judge.
Tre G #MAGA
Here from the future to say: A LOT stupider. Dangerously more stupid.
When the guy was reading his pardon and teared up I almost lost it
yeah, i fell from my chair laughing
Gustavo Robledo heartless
Mr. Gustavo Robledo Explain, in your words, what is bad about crack cocaine, its consumption, or its distribution.
Thank you
@@jasonhernandez5008 yo are you really Jason Hernandez?
Hey!, I'm Australian and I'm not a crimi-- Oh shit, the cops. *runs away
Lol!
+eruweraranj0r go back to school and learn your manners, then maybe your mum will be proud of what you say on KZhead
At Australian customs "Are you, or have you ever been a convicted felon?" "Oh sorry, didn't realize that was still s prerequisite!"
Omg i cried when Jason read his commutation
♥️♥️♥️
The "WHERE'S KERMIT" bit is just the best
This is... sickening. Yep, that word works. Also "reprehensible", "barbaric", "byzantine", "horrifying", "bizarre", "barbaric" again, and "borderline ISISy".
So what's Obama's excuse for not commuting their sentences?
davehugstrees because he cant review every criminal case out there...
DaniuLuo Plus those out of his jurisdiction, like the state prisons
davehugstrees The commuting of any sentences at all was a publicity stunt. He doesn't have time to research thousands of cases to decide who should go free and who shouldn't.
Agreed. Its unamerican to impose such harsh sentences on people for such minor things when we stand for freedom. Our prison system is pretty equilivent to chinas.
The system is broken. Everyone knows that.
Green Raver ur idiot music is so silly
Green Raver You're a idiot , stop using bots you straight idiot
Green Raver Fatty uses phat bots
Green Raver Idiot dumb rollin leave travel dumbbutt
Green Raver Boob
I am trying to quit smoking, so I watch an episode of John Oliver every time I want to smoke, AND IT IS WORKING!
@Zolfram The Instigator you right sis
I hope you’ve kept it up and didn’t smoke for over a year :))
0:13 Oh how innocent we all were
All successful drug policy show that treatment should be increased And law enforcement decreased while abolishing mandatory minimum sentences All research and successful drug policy show that treatment should be increased And law enforcement decreased while abolishing mandatory minimum sentences
Jacob Dexter Nice SOAD ref :)
U basturd lol this song was on loop in my head
They're trying to build a prison! For you and me to live in
Jacob Dexter I used to blast that when I had to go to court- in the courthouse parking lot. This was over ten years ago, still a good and relevant song.
Jacob Dexter I was thinking about this song the whole time.
We should have a constitutional amendment guaranteeing that sentences be changed retroactively when the laws are changed.
Shawn Ravenfire that could swing both ways. With the encroaching police state and ridicululous other laws being passed (silly copyright infringements for instance) this could end BAD. Not saying in this case it shouldn't be this way of course. But still you have to differentiate.
randomUnhold Good point. Reduced only.
Shawn Ravenfire Well, here in Georgia (ex-USSR republic), we have that matter regulated with Organic Law (legislature with less power than Constitution but more power than regular laws) and it states that if the law improves a "conditions of the convicted" (reduces sentence and/or fine) it shall be enacted retroactively. If not - it will only affect convictions that take place after it (the new law) is enacted. And we are a "developing" country. US should use advise from specialists they send to help developing countries. Sincere Thank You for all the tax dollars by the way. You helped a lot!
Shawn Ravenfire Unfortunately, that goes directly against the premises that you cannot be convicted for a crime that was not a crime at the time. If sentences were retroactive, I could be convicted for something that wasn't a crime when I did it.
Yes, most legal systems from the Romano-Germanic family (IE not US, UK and common wealth) have similar provisions on their constitutions: the Law always retracts to improve the accused/convicted's condition and never to aggravate it. It's simple logic: if something wasn't a big deal to society when you did it, you can't be retroactively punished for it, but if something stops being a big deal, there's no more reason to KEEP punishing you. The act is past, but the punishment is present, therefore, in a higher level analysis, it's not really retroactively changing a sentencing but presently changing its effects.
It should be common sense for all this shit to be retroactive. I mean really. Also, real talk. I teared up at 13:12
Wouldn't it be a problem if laws were stiffened during the course of your incarceration? Would your penalty be increased? This specifically came up when the death penalty was changed; lifers did not get upgraded to execution. Would they under this new idea?
There is no justice in punishing thoose who are punished more but there is in shorter sentences when the crime is less relevant
+Douglas Davis Governments have the power to retroactively shorten sentences as it is treated similarly to a pardon or commuted sentence in the eyes of the Constitution. They just have to write such a clause into the bill. However, a retroactive lengthening of a sentence would be similar to Double Jeopardy, which is unconstitutional.
I feel like I'm being cold here but 13:12 was intentionally there to trigger an emotional response for the criminal. Whilst I agree with some of the points, I cant help but feel these ppl would not be in this position had they not committed illegal criminal acts in the first place. They might not have known about mandatory minimums specifically but they had knowledge of the crime. Retroactive action would just open up a can of worms if all the right considerations are not made
+TCt83067695 In most cases, I would agree with you. However, remember that the premise of this video is about those who consumed drugs. Consuming Marijuana, imo, shouldn't get you a higher or equivalent sentence to rape, muder, and fraud. The sentence should be mandatory rehab and probation. Now, for selling and trafficking drugs illegally, I can understand some jail time, but not more than 5 years unless it's to a minor imo.
Given that the private prison system in the U.S. is such a hot growth sector in the economy, I doubt you'll see sweeping changes any time soon. There's too much money to be made in dividing and marginalizing significant segments of the population.
Trane Francks there’s money to be made from screwing people over
At this rate, having a Communist Revolution would actual save Millions of lives!
Trane Francks Trump is helping the us economy in honest and fair ways... instead of expanding the prison industrial complex like all the Rep and Dem puppets did before him. It will take time, because he doesn't want to shock industries that Americans depend on for employment, but it's finally moving in the right direction. Obama started the ball rolling and Trump will turn it in to an avalanche. MAGA baby.
adraim91 Jesus fuck how ignorant are you? Jeff Sessions owns stock in private prisons and as the Attorney General he is enacting changes to expand the growth of prisons and its populous.
modern day slave labor - the rapist or terrorist can not be scared into working for 10 cents an hour. At least the plantation owner of old fed his own slaves.... here we the taxpayer have the privilege of creating a negative cost labor force for private corporation - we all bear the weight of that sin. THINK. Worse criminals make for bad labor hence lower sentences the nonviolent appetite/substance offender is "labor" disgusting. I could go on and on but I have purged plenty - oh and if you buy shares into these modern immobile slave ships know this - you will profit - but you have made money your God. SHAME.
John Oliver for president
Yeah,i guess so no
Yeah,i guess so He can't, because he is not a natural born American. If he had been born in an American state and/or territory or had one American parent, he could.
+Yeah,i guess so No more lefties please
+Joe Dubya That's not entirely accurate. In order to be President you must be a "natural born citizen" which means you qualify for US citizenship "at birth" which generally means being born as an American citizen, but can also apply if just one of your parents have American citizenship when you are born in another country. So people who say that Obama can't be President because they question where he was born? Doesn't matter because he would be a natural born citizen no matter WHERE he was born. Also, being born within a territory isn't the same thing. Since the rule is to be a natural born citizen it only applies if being born in that territory grants citizenship. Since people born in American Samoa are not granted citizenship at birth people born in that territory cannot be President unless at least one of their parents have citizenship. If John Oliver had at least one American parent, regardless of where he was born, or if he was born within the United States or in an American territory other than Samoa he could be President. Otherwise he can't. Oh, and you cannot be President if you have a noble title, so anyone who otherwise qualifies has to renounce that title. An interesting implication of this rule is that it is legally possible to be both the President of the United States AND the Prime Minister of Canada at the same time! (say, born in Canada with American parents) Although that's not likely to happen since it would be seen as a conflict of interest. Another odd implication is that if you have two American parents and happen to be born overseas and are later deported because your parents never filed the papers (something that has actually happened) and you later become a registered citizen you can technically qualify for US citizenship because you are still a natural born citizen, although if they consider it the same way as renouncing citizenship I'm not sure.
+Elliander Eldridge However, a Puerto Rican can become POTUS because they are natural born Americans. Not all territories are like the American Samoas.
Life Without Parole is the kind of sentence that you get for PREMEDITATED MURDER. Or, apparently, for 5 oz of meth. Go figure.
life is a little extreme but meth does cause a lot of misery and suffering ...a lot of children of meth users are paying the consequences...if you don't want the time don't do the crime it's that simple
Those charged with premeditated murder actually probably have it better. Look up the case of Sylvia Likens. Read about what her killers did to her. Then realize that only one of them was in prison for over a decade, & even she was paroled after 20 years behind bars. If they can be considered rehabilitated & released to the public, then I don't want to hear that a 1st time, non-violent drug offender should spend life in prison!
that is actually a lot of meth, a couple thousand dollars worth
A couple thousand dollars, or in other words, a lot less money than what your casual white-collar criminal has steal from each of their individual victim before being sentence to a much lenient sentence. We all remember Madoff, but many of these million-dollar scammers got like 10-15 years, even a lot less if you look at criminal convictions which happened in the same period when this man was sentence to life without parole.
@@carlairving well, the problem is that amount of meth couple kill a person like 500 times over. im a former drug addict, trust me i'm showing sympathy for him I just want everyone to know that ounces are a lot bigger than they sound
Reagan was a super villain. I’m just convinced.
He was the devil. Didn't you watch Boondocks
@@khadijahmuhammad4771 Ronald 6 Wilson 6 Reagan 6
Well, Democrats had to go along with it too. They controlled Congress at the time for the duration of his presidency. Both parties are responsible for it. It was a quick power grab and realization that the justice system. when abused, can function as an oppressor of freedom since it’s easy to vilify “criminals” and lock them up. From lock her up chants on trumps campaign to the latest “Jan 6” insurrection in 2021. The justice system is not being used how it should be. It’s still being abused. The prosecutors are the ones responsible for what this system has come to and it’s only getting started.
I’m on the 6th John Oliver video. Just discovered him tonight. Looks like no sleep for me 🙃
I only discovered him maybe a year ago, and I binged every single video I could find on here. Last week was the first episode I was able to watch right when it came out, and man, what a feeling lol I love how entertaining, informative, and hilarious this show is. I'm learning more about US and global issues from this show than I have in my entire adult life from anywhere else.
The exact moment I heard Pee wee Herman go "This is Crack" I teared up in laughter
Thish...is chwack. Chwack cocaine.
That's what he said 2 seconds after just holding it.
@@tiffanylehnert8520 yeah?
What? The thing that shocks me the most is the fact that the criminal laws are not retroactive. In my country, all criminal laws are retroactive as long as it's beneficial to the criminal. If we think that what he did is now not a crime, why should he be in prison? If we think what he did is worse, then he could not have forseen it.
***** Spain. It's not a fantastic place to live.
+carlosbaldellou I think you mean "beneficial to the convict".
+carlosbaldellou This was my thought as well. (Germany here) If you are committing a crime, are sentenced, and later this crime is deemed not a crime at all or at least less relevant, this would benefit you. And that makes perfect sense to me: imagine people in Germany convicted of treason for telling jokes about Hitler still being in prison 20 years later because "you can't change the ruling". But I think almost every country in Europe has this applying if not all.
Brazil is also like that. It's in the Constitution, witch means not only criminal law, but also civil code and even traffic law retroact in favor of the defendant.
Canada also has retroactive legislation as of around 2005.
If any crime deserves a mandatory minimum, it's rape. And yet, we see that people get higher sentences for drugs than the likes of Brock Turner got for actual rape. Utterly disgusting.....
Because fixing the drug problem requires billions on mental health funding, so it's easier to just call them trash and lock them away 😔
Because drug offenders are often underprivileged and therefore underrepresented. Brock Turner was rich and could afford an effective attorney. Money makes all the difference, not the race of the defendant or the offenses that the defendant is accused of
That moment when you're watching this video in 2019 and John Oliver says "Who cares what Donald Trump said" ... and you start laughing and crying so hard because wow, 2015 was a naive year
When you are living in 2020 and the Coronavirus pandemic has caused the apocalypse and the dangers of the virus were called "a Democrat hoax" by Donald Trump.
just wait till 2021 when there's an attack on the US Capitol, republicans still refuse to impeach him a second time, and then trump announces he plans to run again and has the republican party behind him and THEY CHEER x.x
@@0Yazz When you're in 2022, and they've decided to use the Handmaid's Tale as a guidebook and are coming for gay rights next.
When you are living in 2023 and NY Grand Jury has decided to charge Trump on 34 felony counts of "falsifying business records".
WE NEED TO KEEP MANDATORY MINIMUMS! How else are the industrial prison complex executives going to feed their families on millions of dollars? Shame on you all!
Sorry, prison owners don't have civil rights. We will just have to segregate and abuse them.
The Coffee Nut I just laugh at this thought every time I hear it. Let's privatize law enforcement - what could go wrong. Ohh dear, USA....you are going places.
Where can we write or petition the governors about pardoning those inmates?
ticallionstall Oklahoma: www.ok.gov/governor/Contact_the_Governor/ You should find a way to contact all the governors by searching Google for "governor of [...] mailing adress".
ticallionstall Wow, you have so much faith in the system.
If you think about it, it's pretty strange that you have a system where some politician can overrule the whole legal system by randomly pardoning someone. Like he is - even without the mandatory education - the highest judge. Of course this can be abused - and it was. There were so many cases during the last decades where some corrupt person was pardoned due to self interest. The rest are just some PR stunts. The mandatory sentences are wrong, yes. But seems like the whole system is flawed. Phew...
Happily, Weldon Angelos was released earlier this year. Sharanda Jones was on the clemency list a few months after this ran
This is so incredibly beside the point but once you notice the camera moving when it's on him you can't unsee it
oh god, the flashbacks! The anti-drug ads! Those horrible horrible ads! AHHHH!
Ryuu Ainaki I actually saw those ads... have you seen the ones with the eggs?
OH MY GOD!!!! MY BRAINS!!!!!
The Nuka-Cola Man I always wanted to have eggs after that
Ryuu Ainaki We had that cartoon character special on VHS when I was a kid, and my parents made my siblings and I watch it a couple times a year. The best part is, I didn't think about the message, I was just excited to see the ninja turtles with bugs bunny. I didn't even realize it was supposed to be an anti-marijuana special, I just thought it was talking about regular cigarettes. I'd say the war on drugs was comically ineffective, but there's nothing comedic about someone going to prison for 55 years for selling someone a couple ounces of recreational drugs.
Ryuu Ainaki My favorite anti drug ads were the ones MTV put out. I swear half the rock stars in those PSAs looked like they got high before hand just to be able to get through the filming.
the war on drugs was* a war on the poor *is
Craig Noneman In Asia they take Meth to be able to work 48 hours without being hungry.
TheBadFred not true
TheBadFred I know a whole lot of working class Asians, I also know some that have spent time in jail for drugs (in Asia). I don't know one that has done meth to work for 48 hours.
Craig Noneman well that is an irony because there was a president way back in the day who declared war on poverty. I guess they didn't win that one either... (The president who signed the War on Drugs into existence was Nixon, which makes the whole thing fishy anyway.)
Thespectre82 The explain how 3 ounces of crack should get 55 years and it would take an entire freight train loaded with cocaine to get the same sentence. You are simple ignorant. No everyone who is confrontative is a troll. Granted youtube has countless thousands of trolls but there is some truth hidden is his over generalization. Every does that to make a point as times. In general sentences are unfair balanced against the poor but it is really just reflective of the entire system which is designed to oppress.
who writes his material? I die laughing every time.
The U.S. judicial system. * drops mic *
I'm pretty sure it's him and some other writers.
+VirtuallyEothingas keep your ring
That last guy reading his papers from the president tore my heart out
After every episode, I have the feeling that John Oliver will run out of ideas; yet, every week he comes up with something important and ugly about the US. Good job LWT!
HazerdLet He will never run out of Ideas. Just imagine that.
HazerdLet As long as the US keeps being stupid with their laws, corruption and economy there will never be a time when there's nothing to complain about. ;)
His writers are starting to running out of ideas.
Eethan O'Connell He has the whole globe to cover, the war on stupid has only just begun.
Nathan C. Lord knows that's the truth. ;+)
This is insane. I don't understand how 3 ounces of drugs gets people a life sentence
That has to happen unless you want another 9/11 you slag
Austin Kanady METH, NOT EVEN ONCE! (or even ounce)
Turner Hilburn Congratulations on being this video's first idiot.
Austin Kanady You've never seen 1980s-90s drug PSAs have you? The American voters were extremely anti drugs so passing extremely terrible laws on the matter was a easy way for politicians to get reelected.
Austin Kanady It's because politicians hate black people.
What we really need is better education, better prevention, and better rehabilitation. My friend was really addicted as a teenager but she spent a few months in the hospital and had a lot of therapy after that and was supported by loving friends and family. She is now a sober, happy, and healthy college student on her way to graduating.
Our nation’s revolutionary foundation is falling apart, and I assure you, it scares me as much as it scares you. Americans are riddled with anxiety, living in poverty and suffering from tremendous health issues, all while trying to keep afloat in a world that demands more time, money and more attention than we can give. We are divided politically, religiously, socially, economically, sexually, racially and emotionally. We are broken, we are downtrodden, we are chained. I understand these issues demand change. But what I can’t understand is why Americans, when sensing imminent destruction, head to their local JoAnn’s and stock up on poster board and glitter. This isn’t a high school student council election, and your smiling Instragram post won’t help you win class president. You want to end school shootings? Break the glass ceiling? Stop racial profiling? Conquer injustice and poverty? Great, so do I. But when you choose to battle these ever-present issues, did you donate, volunteer, educate, uplift or inspire? Or did you take a knee, use some glitter and post a perfect picture on Instagram of you “fighting the man?” Showing up to a protest uneducated and unmotivated does not bring about change. Marching because a friend or sibling or peer pressured you into it doesn’t fix any problem. It never has. And selfies don’t change anything either. Sorry to break it to you. Change only occurs when we consciously decide to become politically active, and political activism involves much more than marching for a few hours on a Saturday morning. According to The New Yorker, in 2015, Marxist-inspired thinkers Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams published a book titled, “Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work” in which they examined “the power of marches, protests and other acts of what they call ‘folk politics.” Srnicek and Williams believe “folk politics” simplifies complex political problems down to a human scale, which ignores “the structural nature of problems in a modern world.” Protests, to Srenicek and WIlliams, are “more of a habit than a solution” and a “general inability to systematically think about change.” One of Srenicek’s and Williams’ claims is that protests, at best, have mixed success in the present day. Srenicek and Willams wrote, “Their messages are mangled by an unsympathetic media smitten by images of property destruction - assuming that the media even acknowledges a form of contention that has become increasingly repetitive and boring.” Similarly, a 2011 Harvard study, titled “Do Political Protests Matter? Evidence from the Tea Party Movement,” found that protesting enacts little to no change. However, protests can influence people to become politically active. The study found it was the political activism, not the protests themselves, that induced change.
2:00 "The problem with quotes on the internet is that it's difficult to tell if they're real or not" - Abraham Lincoln.
There can be no justice so long as laws are absolute. Even life itself is an exercise in exceptions.
The law has to account for the lowest possible denominator, it has to he absolute. That being said mandatory minimums are stupid, besides usual jury's account for the human element for crime.
@@lock376 Depending on how you see it. There has to be guidelines, so that you are not completely dependent on the judge sentencing you, but some laws can be more loose. I'm from Germany and at least the civil law is seen as a good law book (from lawyers) just because it's very vague or interpretable. But on the other hand it just accounts the cases of conflicts between citizens and not between state and a citizen.
@@xXHollowkillerXx a fair enough counter point, with perhaps more than a bit of truth to it, punishments should be interpreted based on circumstances to a degree.
To abandon a previously strong point is not weakness, it's growth. Enforcing a bad rule or law because you "can't be seen as going back on your word" means you have no desire to show you're human and that leads to problematic situations
PICARD!!!! Niiiiiccccceeeee. Take my upvote.
12:40 Most powerful footage I have ever seen on this show by far... God fucking DAMN! I just want to give that guy a hug.
Some crimes do deserve at least 35 years, but being caught with 100 grams of pot shouldn't be one.
I AGREE WHOLE HEARTEDLY
Yes. Context is very very very important.
WORTH SLEEPING LATE WHOOO EARLY
........I..need sleep XD
I like how at 3:10 they had to make sure it said "Australia" so that people would know which country it was, based on the shape. lmao.
It is actually Madagascar
Holy moly those ads in the 90s and 80s were terrifying.
When watching the first minute, is this 4 years ago or 4 days ago? Because all of those are things that still apply right now.
everyone agrees except the private prison system.
Reading the title of this video reminded me of the System Of A Down called Prison Song. Also, that man reading his pardon made my throat lock up a bit..
Woodman Kaelan I was pretty much humming that song the whole time.
+Woodman Kaelan Dragons are not fans of music, for us it's just humans making a bunch of strange sounds.
"Who cares what Donald Trump says?" Famous last words, John. Famous last words.
You've raised the bar John. Thank you!
Thanks for speaking up for the voiceless! You're delivery is both humorous & insightful. The relevance is refreshing.
The Jon Wilkes Booth bestiality pardon thing genuinely had me googling to see if that was true before he even finished the statement. Well played.
Did anyone else cry with the man when he was reading the paper that Barack Obama gave him a second chance because that was just heart warming.
Kimberly Hoang 15 years without hope for parole is harsh. Even for low level drug dealer.
I think it would sooooo fun to just talk with John Oliver. I would spend an entire afternoon just talking with this wonderful person. :)
It's so hard to remember that these were recorded BEFORE trump joined the presidential race.
*was elected.
IamI3rian *wasnt gassing and beating protestors on Pennsylvania Ave
After watching this video, I'm absolutely outraged at the sick mandatory minimum sentencing laws... this is abhorrent. The people who decided this have no compassion. Between selling/doing a few drugs and physically taking someone away from their family and taking away YEARS of their life, maybe even their whole life, it's clear which the more immoral act is, and which causes more pain. Actually, I'd go a step further. I don't think we should be putting nonviolent criminals in jail, period. Our current system that uses jail as a punishment for incredibly minor things is cruel and ensures that already poor and disenfranchised communities remain poor, with broken families. Jail should ideally be a place to protect society from violent criminals. SURELY our justice system can come up with non-jail punishments for nonviolent offenses!!!
+KATRINA HAUER it's sad a comedian has to inform people about real issues. Thanks corporate media ;)
+Colt Davis You realize that he is part of corporate media, right?
+Taeko Yasuhiro Nah.. See, a guy pushing heroin to kids is far worse than a guy punching those kids in the face. I mean, punches heal much more quickly than heroin addiction. And John Oliver (rightfully) never argued this should be the case..
whatwhatwhat If they're actually trying to get KIDS on heroine, then that is a form of violence, or at least, they're dangerous in it. But the key difference between selling drugs to people in general and punching someone in the face is agency. The person buying drugs isn't helpless or a victim; they're completely responsible for their own decision and the self-destructive behaviors it brings.
Taeko Yasuhiro Your logic could also be applied to hiring a killer - it removes agency, and the killer is also not a helpless victim and completely responsible for his self-destructive behavior. The one who hires him simply profits from this behavior in some way and provides incentive without forcing him to do it.
ALL HAIL JOHN OLIVER AND HIS ABILITY TO READ THE MIND OF TURKEYS!
One thing is mandatory minimums, but like this, it is just insane. I am a law-student in Germany, the mandatory minimum here for normal crimes are to pay one month of your loan. You have to make a robery or a or an aggavated assault to get a mandatory minimum of a year, even killing someone intentionally just have a mandatory minimum of 5 years, and that only as long as the person that you killed didn't aggitate you. But that, for drug-dealing 55 years? Hell, even murderer only get 25 years, and only more when they are deemed a danger for society. Yes, I think it is okay to do some minimum, but at least reasonable.
I am so torn. I have a family member who, for various reasons, has ended up deep into a drug addiction. It's not my place to excuse nor explain this for them. I couldn't. All I know is that drugs have, at least partially, played a role in their life spiralling out of control and into a nightmare. They, possibly like the drug dealers in this video, haven't had an easy life. My family member is a victim in many ways and perhaps they are too. I find it impossibly hard to draw lines between mistakes and choices and I don't know if I want to even if I could. I can't separate my feelings from the facts. I don't know if that's even the right thing to do. Perhaps humanity is important here. Drugs are bad. Life is difficult. People make mistakes. What a mess.
"Drugs are bad. Life is difficult. People make mistakes. What a mess." Nicely summed up. I think the root of the problem is that the prison system is a for-profit organisation, meaning they literally have no interest in having fewer convicted criminals; convicted US-citizens are their raw material. So they aren't interested in rehabilitation, they aren't interested in lowering crime rates, and worst of all: they have money, which is power. I think for this problem to be solved, people have to know these things. Even with that, a complex problem like this won't be solved quickly. I hope your family heals as best as possible.
After every John Oliver clip I feel grateful not to be an American...
Troublesome2008 we all do...
Me too
I mostly feel sorry for them because nobody wants such a corrupted system. It has very little to do with being 'an American'. It's just assholes grabbing power. I get to walk into a coffeeshop, light up a big blunt and not feel paranoid for getting sent to jail with a mandatory sentence of half my life, just because I'm born in Holland. They want to spent their free time relaxing the same way and do get that mandatory sentence if they're caught just for being an American (except those 4 states). Shit is just rididulous.
Shotgun Pete Holland is corrupt as is, imagine of 300 million people would be living in Holland, shit hole mate
***** One does not exclude the other. I'm also grateful I'm not from Somalia. Or Syria. But we are talking about the USA here. Plus, I used to hold the USA to a higher standard. I used to...
We live in a country where nonviolent offenders go to prison long enough to watch rapists and murderers serve their entire sentence and go home. Think about that.
In Denmark you get 3 years for the first kg hard drug , and then 1 year pr ekstra kg.. America is one screwed up country!
*extra* not ekstra
Just felt saddened by this sad situation. I was moved to tears.
Finally. I was waiting so I could go to bed.
I rubbed one out while I waited
***** Wow, you must be superman on crack to still be awake.
***** haha me too :)
Ok, calm down ... let's be reasonable here. Surely, they took drugs (illegal drug, mind you), so some justice MUST be done for it, obviously. But a life sentence??? So ... let's say there is someone abusing himself with drugs or alcohol for, let's say, self-harm or a bad mistake, does that mean he deserves a life sentence??!!! WTF??!!!!!
Samuel James This. Mostly these sentences are about mob rule. That's problem with US - give society something to hate, and you will get everything approved, even incredibly cruel prison terms.
"Justice?" For people doing what they want with their own bodies? If you own your body, you can do what you like with it, as long as you're not harming anyone else. If you can't, you don't own your body.
Dorian Scott have you ever taken meth, man? you do not want to know what that shit does to you
Samuel James Apparently what it does is get you locked behind bars for the majority of your life.
Cellidor if you are a killer ... he said it. if he was a terrorist, he would have 20 years. But drugs?? Surely, some people sell drugs for easy money and become drug lords, ... but life???
It's actually crazy how many prisoners there are in the United States. I live in Finland and in 2020 we had a daily average of 2800 prisoners, which is twelve times less prisoners per capita than the US.
"All research on successful drug policy shows that treatment should be increased, and law enforcement decreased while abolishing mandatory minimum sentences"
I'd buy that book...
People don't realize that jail and prison are also like drug dealer college in some ways. If you spend 5 years inside you're more likely to just be better at dealing than you are to have been rehabilitated in any form.
Side note, Weldon Angelos (the guythat got 55 yrs for a ridiculously small amount of WEED of all things. He was pardoned and is now at home. 👍🤛
Let's play this out. Someone keep me honest on this logic. 1. Mandatory minimums reduced/removed 2. Come election time, ads run labeling those responsible as "soft on crime" Okay, that won't work. How about this? 1. Prison overcrowding puts financial strain on state and federal governments 2. Mandatory minimums reduced/removed 3. Come election time, ads run labeling those responsible as "soft on crime" 4. Attacking campaigners labeled as "hard on economy" I don't see a good way out of this. Someone cut in with the next logical step.
***** Maybe we need more public discussions about why things like that are happening so that the general population will understand why they're doing what they're doing?
***** At the end of the day, its only going to be fixed with a new generation of politicians that practice what they preach, show honesty and integrity, and don't have to rely on cheap tactics like fear mongering *cough* (Donald Trump) *cough* and bashing other politicians.
Private prisons provide slave labour that is compedative in NWO market.
Richard Llewellyn Don't tell me Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Hulk Hogan own our private prisons?!
Alex Shannon Sirco here in New Zealand are the first private prisons allready they have been found wanting and criminal in thier own corperate operation, time to shut them down.
John Oliver is seriously the best.
Im addicted to his videos. He and the team are just such good people
Little Kids Doin' Drugs.. Turn mah stomach. *Crushes glass* "MISTER T!"
I need to buy "Stranger than Truth" IMMEDIATELY.
He took that drug juke with baby Kermit from the nostalgia critic
VGHS Yeah what the hell?! XD
VGHS I don't think it was stolen. I think it's a pretty obvious joke to make and I can see two different people coming to it on their own.
VGHS To be fair, it's a VERY obvious joke to make.
I would like to think John is a Nostalgia Critic fan
I think it's more along the lines of most of NCs jokes are way to obvious.
3:49 Holy shit, actually think about that you carried something one time when you were young, not uranium around a populated area, not an RPG and they treat you like an irredeemable, unrehabilitable serial killer but atleast a crazed serial killer has a chance to defend themself, you are effectively given an automatic sentence. 9:44 Perfectly sums it up.
Many mandatory sentences are so harsh, I had to watch a man who sold 1 gram of crack, get a 10yr sentence and the judge apologized, he had no choice in the matter, couldn't possibly give him less than that if he wanted to.
As a great poet once said, "All research and successful drug policy shows that treatment should be increased, and law enforcement decreased, while abolishing mandatory minimum sentences."
Every damn time I listen to that line, I think of this episode. Great song, great episode.