...perspectives, the wealthy and the poor, I embrace the hope that serious groundwork might be done that a more logical and fruitful approach might be made in needed directions.

What I mean by a more logical and fruitful approach is that our past--and most of our present--efforts have proven themselves to be just the opposite.

Our "war against crime" has been fought much like our war in Viet Nam. It has been long and drawn-out and we continue to lose as we did in Viet Nam, only in this "war" there is no "strategic" retreats to be made.

It is said that statistics don’t lie.. .but that statisticians do (lie). This is why some areas around the country may boast of reductions in crime. Many crimes are not even being reported out there in the larger community as well as in the prison community. Most victims are weary of the ramifications of reporting crimes against themselves, other persons, places, and things. Police and Corrections Officers/staff ignore much crime that goes on, because it usually isn’t worth the paper work generated by the crimes. Unless the crime has political value, not many in authority will take note about boring or routine crimes (mugging, date rapes, personal property thefts, etc.).

However, this doesn’t mean that crimes are being perceived in a more liberal light as it means that people are becoming desensitized to these crimes. Date rapes have fallen off (being reported) because many women saw how the character of the complaining women was mauled in a court of law through issues of her other sexual behaviors outside this date and the use of illegal substances while on this date, etc. In the middle fifties when I was a teenager, I can remember trying to manipulate my date into smoking some weed so that when our petting got hot and I overpowered her into having sex with me, I could blame it on the weed and her irresistible beauty.

If she remained focused on the fact that I had actually "raped" her, I would become very humble and tell her that I would turn myself into the police and that I would tell them everything. I would tell them that we had been smoking that "killer weed" and that we were overtaken by "marijuana Madness." We had been French kissing and fondling each other until I had to pull her panties down and stick my hot throbbing dick into her wet little pussy and we fucked like minks until we both got off...." By that time, my girlfriend thought that going to the police was not such a good idea and that she would be satisfied with my apology and my promise to never do it again. I would breathe a sigh of relief and give her my solemn word in agreement. The next weekend we’d date and do it all over again; only there would be no rape this time. Statistics was cheated out of a surefire rape case because it had not been reported.

My point in all this is that many crimes are shaped by attitude and opinion; not simply acts defined exactly to the letter of the law. This why many men ended up with rape cases and prison sentences from complaints made by their wives. I believe that in more marriages than not, you will find that the wife learns to use sex as leverage in her interactions with her husband. If he "behaves" well, she might give him a little tonight. If she gets pissed about something, he can sleep on the couch, with no crotch favors, or bobbing-for-cream tricks with her mouth. Sometimes this will bring out the cave man in hubby and he will "rough-off" some of her sweet hindquarters in a serious wrestling match where pinning her butt means more than pinning her shoulders to the "mat."

If wifey-poo stays pissed at being "raped" by hubby, she can go downtown and press charges against him. Prosecutors usually welcome such cases because of the sensationalism involved through the media.

In the joint, many young men are raped and afterward they are encouraged to go to the Correction Officer and report the incident by their rapist. But they tell their victim that if he tells anything, to be sure to tell it all! Tell the cops how I beat you down like a little girl and made you suck my dick for hours. Be sure to tell the cops how I cum in your mouth and made you swallow my sperm. Then also tell them how I made you take your "panties" down and how I rammed my dick up in your ass and slow fucked you for hours. Tell the cops how I came in your ass and how I told you when I was pumping cum in your hot tight ass. Tell the cops how you squealed the first time I rammed my dick up in your soft butt. I want it all to be known for the record so it will be in the law books where your mom, dad, sisters, brothers, wife and kids can all read about it and know who your "man" was while you were in prison. Plus, all the studs in here will know and will be coming for your hot head and soft ass, even when I’m in the hole. You’ll be known for the punk you really are with the added label of snitch put on top of it all.

Or you can forget about it and we can still be friends. You can walk on the prison yard with your head held high, because no one will know how we spent this night here in the cell. The weaker cellmate will usually settle for the apology and promise to never tell anyone or ever do it again, and not report the "rape." They usually remain cellies and are back as night-time lovers behind closed doors where no one can see. There is no more rape; just a good understanding, and again the statistician is cheated out of a surefire rape case because it had not been reported. The victim didn’t want to be seen as a "punk" or "fag."

These analogies just scratch the surface of the issues I’m talking about. But a more important focus is the one I try to make about approaching the problem of crime in more a rational and fruitful manner. The way to do that, in my opinion, is to deal with redefining crime "wars" and rather seek to establish a better understanding of what we have come to call crime and to better understand the criminal. It has been said that the best way to get rid of an enemy is to make him a friend. I contend that the best way to get rid of criminals is to get rid of crime. Quit over-defining human behaviors as criminal. Understand that people make mistakes and that shit happens. Quit making a "Federal Case" out of every misfortune generated out of human interaction failures. King Solomon in the Old Testament had said, "Be not righteous over much." What great wisdom!

England, in the seventeenth century--I believe--became so over-righteous in their "war on crime" that there were over 440...