The NY Times tells us about conditions in the French prisons. If this were happening in the US, our friends on the left would be screaming bloody murder. Fortunately, it is the French, so all is well.
In less than a decade, there has been a radical shift in France's prison population, a shift that officials and experts say poses a monumental challenge.
Despite making up only 10 percent of the population, Muslims account for most of the country's inmates and a growing percentage of the prison populations in many other European countries, an indication of their place at the bottom of the Continent's hierarchy.
...Prison populations have been expanding across Europe in recent years, partly because of stricter anticrime regimens influenced by the sort of zero tolerance on quality-of-life crimes that was epitomized by the former
New York City mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. France's prison population has risen by 20 percent in the past three years, largely because of aggressive pursuit of lower-level crimes.
The proportion of Muslims in prison has been growing even faster, reflecting the relative youth of Europe's largely Muslim immigrants.
They are being arrested because of their youth? I don't think so. And evidently, in the last three years (post- 9/11) France has cracked down on squeegee men. That would be laughed at if Ashcroft had proposed it.
...Europe has been slow to adjust to the changing ethnic and religious makeup of its prison inmates. France, in particular, has resisted approving Muslim prison chaplains, worried that inadequate screening could unleash potential militants into the system.
Missoum Abdelmadjid Chaoui, the imam responsible for the Nanterre institution, says there are only eight Muslim chaplains for the nearly 20,000 Muslim inmates in the
Paris region alone. He handles 9 of the area's 25 prisons himself, but works as a chaplain only part time. There are several efforts in France and elsewhere in Europe to train moderate clerics who are sensitive to the Continent's secular ideals, but progress is slow and Mr. Chaoui said it would take years before there were enough chaplains to meet the needs of France's prison population, which he estimates is already 60 percent Muslim.
Many people warn that neglecting the needs of Muslim prisoners breeds resentment and leaves them open for more radical interpretations of Islam.
The current article makes a nice companion piece to this Times article from last spring, describing the state of civil liberties in Europe.
This is pure revisionism regarding Giuliani:
..Prison populations have been expanding across Europe in recent years, partly because of stricter anticrime regimens influenced by the sort of zero tolerance on quality-of-life crimes that was epitomized by the former New York City mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.
Rudy had the police enforce the law, rather than look the other way regarding quality-of-life crimes. He also overturned police procedures from the 1970s era Knapp Commission prohibiting uniformed officers from making narcotics arrests. Such prohibition led to the lovely unintended consequence of drug transactions done in plain sight of uniformed officers who were prevented by departmental regulations from making an arrest. Anyone who remembers the pre-Giuliani era remembers seeing drug buys in plain view during the day, downtown, mid-town, around Penn and Grand Central stations--you name it.
(And as someone who was an out patient at a downtown hospital ER during the Dinkins era, I've got much more to say about pre-Giuliani tolerance for quality of life crimes.)
If I had to guess, I'd say that Europe is still operating in the pre-Giuliani mindset, as they haven't yet figured out that they need to do something about their crime problem--or that they have one.
More than likely, prison populations have been rising due to a rising crime rate. Other than the murder rate, the crime rate in NYC is lower (and falling) than most European countries. Thank you Mayor Giuliani.
As they say, if you can't do the time, don't do the crime.
Posted by: Forbes | December 08, 2004 at 07:24 PM
"The proportion of Muslims in prison has been growing even faster, reflecting the relative youth of Europe's largely Muslim immigrants."
I took that as merely a reference to the fact that most crimes are committed by youth.
Posted by: pst314 | December 09, 2004 at 11:25 PM
Evil Killers , Mass Murders, Rapist, and LIARS call themselves islamic muslims and pray to a ( moon god ) they call allah, Muslims scream (allah akbar) as they cut off heads of people who will not pray to their MOON GOD. Their lives are orchestrated by an evil book called the (qur’an). Muslims are killing thousands of Innocent Children, Women, and Men, God Have Mercy. As a group of people they are some, if not the most Evil the world as ever seen. Learn of them, fear them, OR pray to their Moon God. They teach their children that only Allah fearing muslims are worthy of life and after life. Their aim is to destroy us, they respect nothing; not even the lives of children. Every day there are bombings, every day innocent people are targeted and murdered. Unthinkable atrocities take place on daily basis. Terrorism is not an ideology, it is a tool; but the terrorists kill for an ideology. They call that ideology Islam. The entire world, both Muslims and non-Muslims claim that the terrorists have hijacked the religion of peace and Islam does not condone violence. Who is right? Do the terrorists understand Islam better, or do those who decry them? The answer to this question is the key to our victory, and failure to find that key will result in our loss and death will be upon us. The key is in the Quran and the history of Islam. Those of us, who know Islam, know that the terrorists of Islam are doing nothing that their prophet did not do and did not encourage his followers to do. Murder, rape, assassination, beheading, massacre and sacrilege of the dead, to delight the hearts of the believers were all practiced by Muhammad, were taught by him and were observed by Muslims throughout their history. If truth has ever mattered, it matters most now! The root of Islamic terrorism is Islam. The proof of that is the Quran. No matter how painful the truth may be, only truth can set us free, Why so much denial? A nuclear disaster is upon us. This will happen. It is not a question of "if" but "when". How many more innocent lives will be lost before YOU open your eyes? A nuclear disaster is upon us. We urge the Muslims to leave Islam. Stop with excuses, justifications and rationalizations,stop dividing mankind into us vs. them and Muslims vs. Kafirs. We are One people, One mankind! Muhammad was not a messenger of God. Terrorists take their moral support and the validation for their actions from the Qu'ran. Your very adherence to the Islamic cult of death, is a nod of approval for their evil crimes against humanity. We also urge the non-Muslims to stop being politically correct, lest they hurt the sensitivities of the Muslims. To Hell with their sensitivities! Let us save their lives,and the lives of millions of innocent people. Millions, if not billions of lives will be lost if we do nothing. Time is running out! All it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. Do something! Send this message to everyone in your address book and ask them to do the same. Defeat Islam and stop terrorism, one billion dead evil muslims is not to many if it saves humanity. Together lets say to HELL WITH MUSLIMS, THE Qu'ran, an the pedofile, pervert, murderer Muhammad (as he burns in HELL),.. Allah, evil God of the Qur'an, Qur'an evil doctrine of nasty, brain dead, weak minded, not quit human muslims. ALL 9/11 terroist where muslims, all suicide bombers are muslims, all TOWELHEADS are Muslims, do not let muslims live in your towns, they will destroy your way of life and cause you much evil as they change your laws to comply to their lislamic laws of the Qu'ran. Muslims CAN NOT live in peace, even with eachother. Example: Muslims hate more that they love their childern,Muslims will tie a bomb on their own children to kill another human. God Have Mercy.
Posted by: rag | December 19, 2004 at 02:52 PM