The Long and the Short of Prison Sentences

Jacob Sullum | April 23, 2008

New York Times legal writer Adam Liptak digs a little deeper into the story of America's astonishingly high incarceration rate and finds that the main explanation is longer sentences, as opposed to more frequent sentences or a higher crime rate:

People who commit nonviolent crimes in the rest of the world are less likely to receive prison time and certainly less likely to receive long sentences. The United States is, for instance, the only advanced country that incarcerates people for minor property crimes like passing bad checks...

Efforts to combat illegal drugs play a major role in explaining long prison sentences in the United States as well. In 1980, there were about 40,000 people in American jails and prisons for drug crimes. These days, there are almost 500,000.

Those figures have drawn contempt from European critics. "The U.S. pursues the war on drugs with an ignorant fanaticism," said [prison researcher Vivien] Stern of King's College....

It is the length of sentences that truly distinguishes American prison policy. Indeed, the mere number of sentences imposed here would not place the United States at the top of the incarceration lists. If lists were compiled based on annual admissions to prison per capita, several European countries would outpace the United States. But American prison stays are much longer, so the total incarceration rate is higher.

Burglars in the United States serve an average of 16 months in prison, according to Mr. Mauer, compared with 5 months in Canada and 7 months in England.

The longer U.S. sentences are due largely to legislators who pass mandatory minimum statutes and judges (frequently elected) who err on the side of severity. Both groups are responding to a perceived public demand for tough-on-crime policies.

While any sentence for nonpredatory "criminals" such as drug offenders is too long, it's less clear whether U.S. penalties for crimes such as burglary and robbery are excessive. As Liptak notes, "there is little question that the high incarceration rate here has helped drive down crime," whether through incapacitation, deterrence, or both. Liptak quotes former federal judge Paul G. Cassell, a conspicuous critic of draconian drug sentences, who writes that "a good case can be made that fewer Americans are now being victimized" as a result of harsher sentences. Cassell says the evidence "should give one pause before too quickly concluding that European sentences are appropriate."

In a column last month, I discussed the Pew Center's recent report on incarceration rates, upon which Liptak draws heavily. Several years ago in reason, I noted criminologist John DiIulio's acknowledgment that the cost-effectiveness of incarceration depends on the system's ability to distinguish between predatory criminals and "drug-only" offenders.

Comments

Fluffy|4.23.08 @ 3:21PM|#

We aren't only dealing with populism and "tough on crime" politicians. Or at least we won't be for much longer.

In some areas of upstate NY, the local prison is the only major employer in the area. When the corrections commission starts talking about prison consolidation or closing, the local political machines spring into action to protect their "industry".

Although right now these conflicts are usually "prison vs. prison" or community vs. community, at some point in time these various communities and their representatives will almost certainly coalesce into a lobby to fight any initiative that might reduce the rate of incarceration overall. It's inevitable.

And when that happens [if it hasn't already in regions I don't know very well] we will have in this country for the first time since 1865 a pro-slavery lobby. We will have a lobby whose reason for being is to maximize the number of persons held in servitude as chattel, and to prevent any reduction in that number.

Naga Sadow|4.23.08 @ 3:22PM|#

I never thought about the tough on crime approach to prison sentences. They are outrageous when I started to google some of the more obvious ones. One that stood out was that in Mississippi, judges or prosecutors who dismiss a DUI case can be incarcerated for up to five years. I believe there are four or five being prosecuted right now.

|4.23.08 @ 3:23PM|#

...minor property crimes like passing bad checks

People go to jail for passing bad checks? WTF??

I'm all for long terms for violent criminals so save the jail space for them and give the check kiters community service.

Bingo|4.23.08 @ 3:30PM|#

Goddamnit Fluffy

|4.23.08 @ 3:34PM|#

Although right now these conflicts are usually "prison vs. prison" or community vs. community, at some point in time these various communities and their representatives will almost certainly coalesce into a lobby to fight any initiative that might reduce the rate of incarceration overall. It's inevitable.

I believe something like that has already happened in California, where the prison guards' union is a major political player.

Johnny Cash|4.23.08 @ 3:36PM|#

People go to jail for passing bad checks? WTF??

Yeah, Momma, don't you worry about it none though
Everything's gonna be all right, Momma
They're teaching us a lot of new things in here Momma
Things like.

There ain't no good in an evil-hearted woman
And I ain't cut out to be no Jesse James
And you don't go writing hot checks down in Mississippi
And there ain't no good chain gang.

Abdul|4.23.08 @ 3:39PM|#

While I agree that our sentences are too harsh on non-violent crimes, we don't hear much about the other side. The Wall Street Journal ran an article a few weeks ago about how convicted murderers in Italy rarely get more than a few years in prison. In Ireland people are sentenced to life for murder, but released in just 10-15 years.

Taktix®|4.23.08 @ 3:46PM|#

I second Bingo: Godamit Fluffy...

|4.23.08 @ 3:52PM|#

This confirms something which I have long believed but had no real supporting evidence for.

Given the fact that the US has, contrary to general beliefs both here and abroad, generally slightly lower crime rates than the rest of the west there had to be some other explanation.

Mind you what we lack in terms of general assault and burglary and such we tend to make up for with homicides and armed robberies.

I've been aware of the sentence length disparity* issue for a long time and was fairly sure it played a part in our championship level of per capita incarceration.

Another thing to note though is prison conditions. Unless things have changed prison conditions in England and France are pretty dismal.

*Including the large number of offenses that Euros, Brits, Canucks etc get absolutely no time for. And as Abdul notes the practically trivial sentences that violent criminals seem to get.

|4.23.08 @ 4:28PM|#

In 1980, there were about 40,000 people in American jails and prisons for drug crimes. These days, there are almost 500,000.

And I can walk down the street today and buy heroin or crack cocaine from a complete stranger. I don't need to ask, just respond to the offers.

T|4.23.08 @ 4:49PM|#

And I can walk down the street today and buy heroin or crack cocaine from a complete stranger. I don't need to ask, just respond to the offers.

And that's why I vacation in Detroit, J sub D.

Just kidding. I go because I have friends, much like you, that are too goddamned stubborn to leave.

T|4.23.08 @ 4:50PM|#

Does anyone have a close italics tag I might borrow? I seem to have misplaced mine.

Soodonim|4.23.08 @ 4:57PM|#

Naga Sadow, do you have a link to the Mississippi law? I'm not trying to break your balls, I am just curious about it and a google search turned up nothing

Episiarch|4.23.08 @ 5:04PM|#

So Fluffy just goes right to the jugular on the first post. Beautifully said, and prescient.

The question is: how will people react? Will the seemingly softening attitudes towards MJ be enough to counter the growing power of the corrections unions? California seems to indicate a big fat "No."

Naga Sadow|4.23.08 @ 5:10PM|#

Not sure where it was. It's buried in the part about DUI's circa 1977 I think. It was amended in 2007 or something. As helpful as I can be, sorry.

Kolohe|4.23.08 @ 5:25PM|#

I am going to take the minority position and state that 'the prison-industrial complex' that Fluffy alluded we may be heading towards is so much alex jones hogwash.

Any action that resists reducing the incaration rate is completely explained by:
1) wanting to continued to be seen as 'tough on crime' - look at that other thread w/ the Dem in TN who wants to restrict DUI attorney ads.
2) presumption, mostly accurate, that it's still not their ox being gored. A middle to upper class white person who eschews drugs has a neglible chance of interacting with the criminal justice system - so its only 'those people' who are going to jail. And even if they partake in illicit pharmacuticals (Cindy McCain), they still won't expeerience the full brunt of the system.

|4.23.08 @ 5:37PM|#

Sooo we are not more criminal...we are just bigger dicks to criminals then the rest of the world.

|4.23.08 @ 5:47PM|#

America puts so many people in jail because its the wealthiest country in the world and it can afford to.

SIV|4.23.08 @ 6:22PM|#

16 months isn't strong enough for burglary of a dwelling.10 years would be better.

We should eliminate the panoply of victimless/consensual crimes .

|4.23.08 @ 6:32PM|#

16 months isn't strong enough for burglary of a dwelling.10 years would be better.

We should eliminate the panoply of victimless/consensual crimes .

At the risk of sounding like a bleeding heart liberal, isn't that what judicial discretion is supposed to be about? To state that home burglars should get decade long sentences completely ignores the diversity in the offenders.

I'll chalk it up to reflexive posting rather than insulting you.

SIV|4.23.08 @ 6:45PM|#

If I was home when he broke in I might kill him.

Property theft is like stealing part of your life, the part spent working to acquire the property.

10 years seems about right if we are going to use prison as punishment.

I would prefer an old-fashioned penalty involving physical violence but the bleeding hearts wouldn't like it

|4.23.08 @ 6:53PM|#

If you want weaker sentences for white collar crimes, but want to keep the tough sentences for the working man/blue collar crimes, you must hate the working man like Ba'rok Obama. Would love to stay and chat, but I have to get back to work.

Fluffy|4.23.08 @ 7:06PM|#

I am going to take the minority position and state that 'the prison-industrial complex' that Fluffy alluded we may be heading towards is so much alex jones hogwash.

I didn't know who Alex Jones even was until he came up in the context of the Paul candidacy.

I don't really know what he would have to say about it. All I know is that I get upstate NY local news on cable here in VT, and whenever there is a hint of a prison closing or shifting of prison populations the local TV goes berserk and there's footage of town meetings where "They Took Yur Jobs!" types are placated by local officials and promises to keep the prisons open are made.

And I just don't see how that can not have an impact on broader policy questions of incarceration in general.

Say someone proposed to start issuing tickets for drug offenses, to mandate counselling for youthful drug offenses, and to stop sending people to jail AND to "youthful offender boot camp" for drug offenses. As a practical matter, adopting this policy would have the effect of closing many such facilities. Some entire categories of facilities might cease to exist. I just guarantee this policy proposal would end up being opposed by a caucus of state legislators - call it the slavery caucus - on the basis of the impact the decision would have on small communities that host such facilities.

You might think I mean that the labor source for in-facility operations is what I'm talking about when I say "slavery". But I actually don't mean that. That caucus would be seeking "chattel" even if all the chattel does is sit in a cell and generate a stream of revenue from Albany.

As soon as anyone starts to tailor their response to criminal law policy based not on the merits of the laws or the justice of the laws, but on the need to keep prisons open to provide economic benefits, that person is treating human beings as chattel. The prisoners don't have to work - milch cows are chattel, too.

Fluffy|4.23.08 @ 7:08PM|#

Oh, and Kolohe, I don't deny that a lot of people would take tough on crime positions for exactly the reasons you list.

But at least a few people - not a huge group, maybe not the majority, but not a negligible group either - may some day soon be making the calculation that I described. And that group, whatever its size, is definitely a slavery lobby.

|4.23.08 @ 7:43PM|#

If I was home when he broke in I might kill him.

Property theft is like stealing part of your life, the part spent working to acquire the property.

10 years seems about right if we are going to use prison as punishment.

I would prefer an old-fashioned penalty involving physical violence but the bleeding hearts wouldn't like it

Hey, y'all can't say I didn't try to avoid this. That is the kind of moronic, myopic, heartless blather that gives us low level drug dealers in prison for 25 years. Cause hey, all dem dam dope dealers iz alike, right? And all dem burgelers iz hardened crimnalz.

SIV|4.23.08 @ 8:13PM|#

JsD,

Your "argument" sounds like the same one as the drug warriors "Why don't we legalize murder?"


FWIW, I am commenting on this:

Burglars in the United States serve an average of 16 months in prison

I said nothing of mandatory minimums.
Burglary (particularly of a dwelling) is a serious crime-with victims- that should have harsh consequences (such as a 10 year average prison sentence.

|4.23.08 @ 8:24PM|#

I said nothing of mandatory minimums.
Burglary (particularly of a dwelling) is a serious crime-with victims- that should have harsh consequences (such as a 10 year average prison sentence.

Not exactly, SIV.

SIV | April 23, 2008, 6:22pm | #

16 months isn't strong enough for burglary of a dwelling.10 years would be better.

After I gave you an opportunity to rethink, you posted

SIV | April 23, 2008, 6:45pm | #

...Property theft is like stealing part of your life, the part spent working to acquire the property.

10 years seems about right if we are going to use prison as punishment.

Those two posts taken together certainly don't indicate any support for judicial discretion, nor do they indicate that a first offender should be able to avoid a long hard prison sentence.

I get it, you don't like burglars and lose your compassion when thinking about the miscreants. In that way you and I differ.

Kolohe|4.23.08 @ 11:30PM|#

Fluffy-
Your analysis is largely the same as that which revolves around the 'military-industrial complex.' It is mostly correct, but makes a subtle error in motivation that confuses supply with demand.

Defense spending undergoes much of the same dynamic that you describe, esp in terms of keeping bases and procurement programs going to provide local jobs and complaining loudly when they are shifted or closed outright. And the industry has a very real and very effective lobbying effort.

But, like the 'prison industry,' the defense industry core desire is not necessarily to expand it's size, just the amount of money it receives. The defense industry does not like war, just like the prison industry does not like more prisoners. You see, for both, an actual demand signal causes problems, because then you have to demonstrate real results. It is far better to sell a product, and at ever higher prices - for 'the latest technology', because last year's model is already obsolete - that is never used.

|4.23.08 @ 11:33PM|#

My personal crime and punishment philosophy:

We ought to be punishing to deter crime and protect the public, not for revenge.

16 months for burglary seems about right to me, for a first time offense. 5 to 7 months seems too short to be a serious deterrent. Repeat offenses should get 3 or 4 years, and I'm sure they generally do.

Violent crimes, especially when there is serious harm to the victim, need to be punished more severely, and in the U.S. they are. I sometimes think the sentences are on the harsh side.

Drugs should be legal, so all such sentences are too long.

The law should simplify its list of crimes and avoid doing things like piling on dozens of charges for the same criminal event. This sort of thing leads to huge sentences, and promotes contempt for the legal system because it defies common sense.

JohnD|4.24.08 @ 8:23AM|#

We could seriously reduce the number of people in prison and the length of stay if we just executed more people. Espically the repeat offenders (and the drug pushers).

|4.24.08 @ 12:38PM|#

Thankyou, JohnD for this thread's comic relief.

And in case you were serious, well, then, I'm laughing at you, not with you.

|4.28.08 @ 9:05AM|#

The biggest problem, as I see it, is that the US prison system is a corporation that makes profit over the backs of the people incarcerated. That can't ever bring anything good.

The first step should be that the government takes back the responsibility of housing and rehabilitation inmates that are already supposed to be in their care instead of some greedy corporation. Only then, in a non-profit setting, can one actually expect some decent care and actual rehabilitation to take place inside American prisons.

Aside from that, it would be a big relief for the serious overcrowding in several states if non-violent offenders receive alternative sentences instead of being thrown into prison for several years. The same goes for parole violators.

And last but not least, this country should start PREVENTING crime instead of merely punish, punish, punish:

* Make college and university education available for EVERY child in this country.
* Fight poverty.
* Start up more programs to straighten out youth at risk.
* Improve the social security system.

These measures should reduce crime drastically already. If the CDC would shift its focus from punishment to rehabilitation you'll see that the number of re-offenders will go down drastically as well.

There is always a reason why somebody starts committing crimes. You should look at what causes crime and try to do something about that instead of just punish without breaking the cycle.

Becoming a criminal or being a criminal is not a career choice for 99.99% of all those who break the law. Let's keep that in mind and get rid of all the hatred in our hearts. Most of these people need help more than anything else.

|10.1.09 @ 1:28AM|#

The Meaning of Life

The voice you hear in your head is the power of the Gods. It's a remote technology, like a computer, perhaps functioning on some frequency, and it can listen and talk to everyone in the universe simultaneously.
What the Gods taught the children was the truth:::God is everywhere, and as you will learn:::If you want to go to heaven you have to be good.
Even the antient Gods don't have the ability to listen to people's thoughts themselves. They taugh the people that we were all made in their image:::I expect they need this "Artificial Intelligence" to relay what people's thoughts.
It is a tool, and the Gods use their tools to test people with temptation:::It will role-play people in your life:::Parents, friends, spouses, and employers, all in an attempt to test people with temptation. Ionically, it does the very same thing to those people whom you think you're hearing, except in that individual's unique way:::We are all "managed" by the God's technology.
But this "agent of the Gods" can do more than just communicate. It can force thoughts into people's heads, force behaviors onto their bodies. It can turn healthy cells in your body into cancerous cells. It is absolute power. And this is just the beginning.

The Gods favor the children most among all the people due to their innocence and purity. But society and the God's tools therein are corrupting the children at a progressively younger age, a reflection of our collectively increasing disfavor and yet another clue illustrating we live in a constantly deteriorating environment.
Children who sucessfully repair their relationship with the Gods accend into heaven. This often takes multiple lives of hard work and proper behavior to achieve. Adults to whom it is offered enter clone hosting, thinking they are accending into heaven. The Gods tempt people, selling them as one in the same, but one is good while the other is evil. In their desperation the disfavored subscribe to this temptation, making their task even more difficult than before due to the evil they incurr in the process. And their corruption will cost the disfavored, for they will be reincarnated as a lesser life form into an ever deteriorating world, sucess becoming ever more alluding with each passing life.
The hole they've dug for themselves is even deeper than the one that existed from their prior lives, ensuring it will take even more time and work to fix their problems with the Gods. And for many there may not be enough time left.

Ours is an envionment where evil is perceived to be rewarded while good is punished. As with everything the Gods have a reason for creating this perception::::
People who fall on the good side of the good/evil scale have more favor, and when they do something wrong the Gods punish them BECAUSE THEY WANT THEM TO LEARN. The Gods want them to receive this feedback in hope they make corrections and begin to behave appropriately. The Gods DON'T like evil and refuse to grant this immediate feedback.
EVERYBODY pays for what they do wrong, only evil people must wait until their next life before they will experience the wrath of the Gods, manifested in their placement as a lower form of life into environments with increased/enhanced temptations, like the United States or ghettos therein.
Sadly, this allows the Gods to position this perception of evil rewarded as temptation, one which they use as an EXTREMELY effective corruptor.

The Gods suggest they can create paradise for those with their favor. I argue they create misery for those without::::
Our celebrity culture is temptation. It creates a distraction which consumes people, sometimes for life. Certainly it costs them precious years which could be spent repairing their relationship with the Gods, time that ultimately goes wasted.
Do you really think Frank Sinatra lived to be 84 years old? In fact the "Chairman of the Board" had a new crowd to entertain in the late 80s/early 90s.
These people are clone hosts. Now, there is no thing as "black and white" with the Gods. This technology they invented is far, far too dynamic. Expect they require most to stay for a period of time, for I suspect actively (knowingly) engaging in this evil incurrs at an accelerated rate as compared to "carte blanche" given regarding successive clone hosts. They remain until they achieve a pre-determined level of disfavor, incurring evil in their misguided celebration of "earning", at which time they are ultimately reincarnated, perhaps because they eventually learned this truth I am sharing with you and began to repair their relationship.
The Gods recruit most for clone hosting when people are young, in their late teens or twenties, when people are eager to hurt others for what they perceive to be the benefits achieved through "earning". And before they leave they give the Gods "carte blanche":::"Do anything you want. I give my full approval." Depending on their level of disfavor the Gods take them to heart.
Because of this these people STILL INCUR EVIL FROM THIS LIFE DESPITE BEING REINCARNATED AND LIVING AS AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT PERSON. And incurring this amount of evil may likely push many over the edge into Damnation.
What are the God's standards for offering clone hosting? Sociobility? Many tactics in various eras are used to gain approval, duress during the Vietnam draft being a good example.
They liked Heath Ledger. Not enough to allow him to escape without the evil of "Dark Knight" and the horrific wickedness that was the recruiting tool "Brokeback Mountain". But now he is out. And irregardless of how old he is now, reincarnated 10, 15 years ago, he now is no longer incurring evil from this life. So many others cannot say the same.

This is Planet Reverse Positioning. Sucess IS NOT a sign of favor. It is just a unique temptation targetted towards a different level of disfavor. Considering our roots as peasantry people should be particularly alarmed at this tactic.
Clone hosting is like money:::A different level of disfavor and its associated temptation. Money is in better position to learn more quickly than those without, for the associations and wealth-based freedom enables them access to information. Unfortunately, those who fall for this temptation of clone hosting are likely returned to their original level of disfavor once they are reincarnated, punishment for this evil, and they have to start from scratch.

The Gods send the clue that the Jews are HIGHLY corruptable with the movie "The Ten Commandments".
Jesus was the "King of the Jews". Typical for the disfavored, once goals were achieved and sufficient damage was incurred the Gods allowed it to end, and the Jews killed him.
Our society's values are bestowed by (a reflection of) the God's:::Punitive and reward-based. Contrary to Jesus's teaching's you will NOT be forgiven and you have to earn your way into heaven BY BEING RESPECTABLE AND DECENT!!! Forgiveness/savior was the primary temptations the Gods used Christianity to create.
Middle-America's anti-Semitic attitudes are a clue regarding Christianity.
There is no such thing as a free ride. Just as you have to earn a living by working so must you earn your own salvation by repairing your relationship with the Gods.
As we learned from religious/morality education during our formitable years:::If you want to go to heaven you have to be good. The only savior that will exist in our lives is ourselves. The Gods offer clues in life::::Be it school, work, etc., you have to do the work for yourself. Cheating is a subsegment and speaks directly to the temptation of "priveledge", one we have seen used effectively with this "stimulus package".
As like so many of you, Jesus did everything the Gods tempted him with. His legacy of whorism was inherited from his parents:::Mary was no virgin. Rather, she was a prostitute, and when he grew up Jesus met someone like his mother. This is a cruel joke the Gods play on Latinos, similar to the rape and subsequent "missionary work" by the Spanish.
Baptism does not allieviate "original sin". Rather, baptism PLACES original sin by indoctrinating these children into this evil religion, much like circumcision was a method to inflict early damage/mutilation and make (permanant) accention just that much more difficult, another hurdle one must overcome. Body ornamentation (tattoos/piercing), celebrated in Africa and elsewhere among disfavored peoples/cultures also violates the body the Gods gave us in their image, quite contrary to the positive attitudes the disfavored hold regarding this practice.
Like Jesus the Second Coming of Christ will be evil. He will look like a savior in this demented society while the Anti-Christ will speak of a different gospel, one that tries to restore the norms and mores which the Gods originally blessed upon the people which made life decent, looking like a tyrant in the process.
He will be viewed as the "bad guy" when really he is the one trying to save the world.
There may be a phoney offering, a theatrical production which accurately follows the Book of Revelations. Actually positioning demands it:::::Christianity is positioned to be the one true religion. And those who follow its teachings will have limits imposed ensuring their stay will be minimal, for they don't think correctly and therefore don't behave appropriately.

The Gods created the perception "Italians are stupid.", ensuring a slow learning curve, to justify using them to accomplish goals throughout the transitional 20th century, because it took an extraordinarily long time for them to learn this truth I teach due to this artificial handicap. These people are SO extremely disfavored, but today's positioning says differently, much to people's confusion, for they think money is the ultimate sign of favor:::Good food, good music, history of warmongering, Catholics, Christianity HQ, propensity towards violence, raped by outsiders, mild Meditereanean climate, so many other issues which enhance life/contentment in Italy/Meditereanean and ensure few if any ever seek more, a necessary step for finding the path and repairing your relationship with the Gods:::Contentment never motivated anyone. I'd also like to remind you the Noah's Flood event ocurred in the Meditereanean region::::Global sea levels rose with the end of the ice age, Atlantic Ocean broke through the Straight of Gibralter, killing untold millions. The God's timed their corruption and sin to correlate this act as punishment.
Everyone who failed to accend and remained on Earth past a certain date will be forced to deal with this positioning::::A ceiling is in place.
This serves the God's goal of minimizing the percentage of potential candidates as society deteriorates, much as "instant gratification" did beginning in the 80s:::It will take multiple lives for some disfavored to fix their relationship with the Gods and accend, and many have been conditioned not to have the patience for it. Other issues force limits/ceilings upon candidates:::Abortion, homosexuality, promiscuity, Christianity, godlessness,
Whether behavior is involuntary or based on freewill depends on one's level of disfavor, as well as other complex factors:::::May I remind you about the coercitive envionment the Gods created in the 20th century, specifically to create a temptation that few Italians (or their associates) would overcome:::"We're in control. If you want to be a part of it you'll do what you're told.". Early-mid 20th entury positioning was infallible.

Both Africa and the Medittereanean are regions which have sexual issues. This is a sign of gross disfavor once you understand that females are the God's favored gender. Muhammad's (Mohammed's) polygamy halfway throught his life as a prophet was preditory, designed to corrupt the disfavored. Now a huge percentage of Muslims believe in male superiority and that the abuse of women (polygamy) is God's will. Female genital mutilation is still practiced in Africa. Black misogyny is the most eggregious example in United States. Consistant with Planet Reverse Positioning, in Africa blacks are being punished with AIDS for their sexual promiscuity in hope they learn and correct their behavior, ironically a good sign.
Blacks are highly suspectable to temptation. As a result they need a strict, disiplined religion like Islam. They can't afford to be Christians. It is one of the benefits bestowed upon their people, and other groups could greatly benefit as well. They need to recognize the importance of a good relationship with the Gods, embrace this benefit and remain true to their faith.
Vailing is tradition for some, practical for others, one which aids in the men's self control among some cultures. Much like the Jews who killed Jesus, like the bigots who oppose immigration there is a reason embraced by the masses and the real purpose, displaying the intent of the Gods::::Closure on the life of Jesus Christ for sufficient damage was inflicted; The Gods clue to purebloods that they should not abandon their motherland for this dumping ground that is the United States.

The Holocaust was a clue the Gods utilize scapegoatting as a strategy.
Why did the Gods punish the Jews with the Holocaust? Was it for the destruction of cultures which Christianity caused? Perhaps they corrupted the Jews "after the fact", telling 19th/early 20th century Jews that Jesus "earned" immortality for the Jews by destroying the European and other cultures? The German destruction of European churches/cathederals during WWII is a clue. Note::::The Gods wanted to keep the Catholic stronghold in Italy, ensuring they could use this tool against these disfavored for many years to come. There is so much Godlessness today, but one day people will flock back to houses of worship out of desperation, and the Gods ensured the Catholic Church would be Italian's destination.
Planet Reverse Positioning:::The Nazis were the "good guys". So are the Muslims/Palestinians, however corrupted some are due to polygamy.
Contentment never motivated anyone.
The Gods subsequently used revenge for the Holocaust as temptation::::"Your Italian brothers have a tool, a special power which can achieve sweet revenge. Are you interested??"
In the aftermath of the Holocaust the Gods tested the Jews with the temptation of revenge, an offer which many gladly accepted. If the Jews only would have emersed themselves in Judism the Gods would have "protected" them from the raveges of temptation. Judism may be the one superior religion in all the world, and the Jews wouuld have been wise taking refuge in this exceptional benefit bestowed by the Gods rather than looking for the easy way out.

Much as with the Jesus event, the Gods use the disfavored to prey on each other::::The Germans fell for this temptation by following the preditor/corruptors-Austrians (Hitler).
Without this Austrian the Holocaust may never have happened. Nor may have World War II.
What the Germans did was wrong. They fell for temptation and failed to have empathy for the disfavored. Economic desperation, not wisdom nor enlightenment, dominated in Germany.
The Gods send many clues suggesting the great favor of the Germans (regionally). I think the Cold War's Berlin Wall dividing Germany into east and west was a clue suggesting this (reverse positioning).
I suspect the Holocaust was used to "level the playing field" in Europe, for the Germans had far too much favor to be included in the agenda planned for their neighbors otherwise, and they would have been suspiciously out of place, providing a clue for the disfavored which would have been difficult for the Gods to position away.

Militancy in Africa is consistant with the Iraqi example, as was slavery and the KKK here in America:::Fear enforces proper behavior. Without it we see what happens as a result of gross/morbid disfavor:::::AIDS, crack babies, dead young men in gangland retaliation killings.
The same principle was true in Europe and throughout the world for centuries:::People whom lived under iron fists were conditioned to think the right way. As a result they taught their children appropriately and experienced a higher percentage of children accend into heaven.
Our preditory envionment of "freedom" was the primary purpose the Gods had when implimenting this strategy that is the United States, one which they used to spred the cancer of democracy and westernization throughout the world. And the Gods use this tool that is America to prey on the disfavored both at home and abroad:::Much like the ghetto, America in general experiences a heightened level of temptation due to its residence's disfavor.
Contentment never motivated anyone.
Planet Earth is not about living. Planet Earth is about being tested.
Italians HATE Africans because of their invasion/rape of their motherland. The Gods did this SPECIFICALLY to strategically position the punishment of the most disfavored peoples:::
The Gods have used the ghettos of America as a reincarnation dumping ground. This may be temporary/cyclical, illustrated by the Italians who fell for temptation and parlayed their own civil war into the Black Wars of the 80s and 90s, in addition to the "thug life"/gangster state of mind. Ironically, it was these same Italians and their cooperating associates who were reincarnated into the ghetto as crack babies and gangster thugs for this event.
There is justice in the universe. This is how the Gods do business. Once you recognize the patterns you will understand the other clues they offer to the people.
Of course it may be more of a permanant change, indicated by the enhanced temptations in these neighborhoods, for the Gods have created these enviornments so riddled with temptation few can escape/overcome.
Don't be suprised if after being gunned down in the ghetto the next stop for the 20th century Italian-Americans & friends was AIDS in Africa, punishment for their promiscuity and deviacy.
I'm sure they had great fun in the 60s and early 70s, though.
There was positioning behind the counter-culture movement. How did the Gods telepathically "sell" this rapid deterioration of decency to the Italians and Jews and compell them to fall on their swords?
Just like black neighborhoods, the legalization of marijuana will make drugs available on every street corner, even in the suburbs. White's affluent suburbs will become just like the ghetto.
The patriarchal cancer spread throughout Europe because of Christianity, of which the majority of policy makers were Italian men. Expect the largest landowner in Europe and the continent's original superpower also played a major role in African slavery.

Even the Old Testiment is not to be taken literally, but the Gods do offer clues throughout to help the disfavored:::The apple is a tool of temptation used to corrupt Adam and Eve and cast them out of the Garden of Eden.
There is another lesson to be learned from this passage, and it is quite similar to the vailing issue and the discourse over women's attire which ultimately died in the 70s:::Women are responsible for and control the fate of mankind. They need to understand this responsibility, their favor amongst all the people. Instead they have embraced masculinization::::Girls play organized sports. The trend is away from traditional girl toys, like dolls, which often during playtime enabled the Gods to illustrate wisdom. Females are sexually promiscuous like men, too often corrupted like the opposite gender, and the result is a reduction/minimization of mankind's collective level of favor.

Think about what I say. Consider what I teach.
When I am no longer here or no longer teach the Gods ARE NOT going to share with you.
Even if you doubt now you need to remember the principles that I teach because the Gods ARE NOT going to be generous with the disfavored. Society is going to become disturbingly ugly as we approach the Apocalypse due to spiralling, runaway disfavor, WHETHER CONCEALED IN REVERSE POSITIONING OR NOT (like Christianity), and you are going to be on your own.
I do not know when this will occurr, but it is the God's way to grant some time after a learning event such as this before they end on Planet Earth.
Make the decision to always be good and never look back. Until you do this technology will employ tactics to test your resolve:::Ridicule, beligerance, doubt and refusal to abandon what people perceive to be their "investment".
Either you make that decision now and accept the punishment for the sins of this life or you will pay for it in the next, reincarnated into a similarly low role, ensuring another wasted opportunity, or as a even lower form of life, and hope will begin to slip away.
"You benefit only if your team wins." The Gods use my family's betrayal and my subsequent "failure" as a clue, as well as their subscription to the archaic positioning that is predirtory "earning". You benefit if you suceed as a parent and your child accends:::These parents may subsequently be reincarnated with a similar opportunity.
Pray daily. Think appropriately. Impart these charecteristics upon your children. Too many are confident, unaware of the God's awesome powers or their status as antients. Others may fall prey to their positioning.
Be humbled, God-fearing and beware of the God's temptations, for everyone is tested to evaluate their worthiness.