Conservatives turning against massive imprisonment and the drug war

As I've always said in class, the liberals are easy to convince.

They already believe that the war on crime does not work and the war on drugs is morally wrong.

To stop all the madness, it's the conservatives that have to be won over.

And they have to be won over with arguments that speak to what they value.

Things like money.

Now, several notable conservatives are speaking out against these wars being waged right on US soil.

From the article:

"Struggling with chronic budget crises, lawmakers in more and more states are embracing sentencing and other reforms in a bid to hold down corrections costs. But while sentencing reform has long been the domain of 'bleeding heart' liberals, now conservatives are driving those efforts in some states.

"It's not just about dollars. Although fiscal concerns are a driving force among conservatives, there are also signs they are recognizing and confronting the failures of our drug and criminal justice policies. In a recent Washington Post op-ed, none other than former House Speaker Newt Gingrich wrote of 'more humane, effective alternatives' to the national imprisonment binge."

This is an amazing sign of potential change in US domestic policy. It's amazing how much of a motivation state budget crises are!

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2011/feb/02/conservatives_board_sentencing_r