Word: 80s
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...disturbing truth is that although three decades of lock-'em-up fever have made America the world's No. 1 jailer, there still aren't nearly enough cells to go around. The '80s zeal for harsh drug penalties has pushed the U.S. incarceration rate to 455 per 100,000 citizens and has run up an unprecedented annual tab of $21 billion for the construction of prisons and maintenance of inmates. As the nation's inmate population swells toward 1.4 million, prison officials must release career criminals to make room for first-time drug offenders. The growing public outcry against violent...
...what end? The politically popular War on Drugs of the '80s has given rise to the far less sexy Cell Crunch of the '90s. Mandatory minimum sentences for minor drug crimes have stuffed the prisons to bursting with nonviolent offenders. By 1990 almost 40 states were under court order to relieve overcrowding by releasing prisoners -- even habitual offenders. Today narcotics offenders occupy 61% of the beds in federal prisons. Meanwhile, 1 in 7 state facilities continues to operate beyond capacity. Ohio leads the pack with a stunning 182% of capacity...
...gunsels. And its penalties are steep: up to 20 years in jail for each criminal count and triple damages in civil judgments. RICO quickly proved a sterling Mob stopper, as dozens of capos like New York City's John Gotti can testify. But when lawyers in the mid-'80s realized how broadly written it was, it mutated wildly. Prosecutors turned it on white-collar criminals like junk- bond-king Michael Milken. Plaintiffs in normal civil suits (a famous one involved litigious rabbis) used it to extract lucrative awards or far better settlements. It was invoked in sexual harassment suits...
...name of The Page and consider it a done deal. It can be done much better, and I hope it will be. There's some new blood in here now--a kinder, gentler staff for the '90s, as the bitter, cutthroat staff of the late '80s moves...
...Davis: No. If it was an '80s flashback, you wouldn't have a Comcast in the picture, you wouldn't have a Blockbuster in the picture, or a Nynex in the picture. These are all strategic investors, as opposed to financial players...