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Show Contemporary Issues Prisons a disgrace, says Fortas """" ' ,A 1 . : .'-, I f v r ' iW I , i i ; I J j By KURT NUTTING Chronicle Staff Prisons are "a disgrace, they are a hoax, they are a vast multi-million dollar imposition im-position upon the American people and it's time we do something about it" former United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Abe Fortas told the Thursday meeting of the Contemporary Issues class. Fortas quoted FBI statistics showing that while in the 1960's serious crime rose 176, and violent crime rose 156, the population rose only 13. In 1970 police made more than six and a half million arrests for non-traffic offenses. Fortas said one major cause of the "crime on a scale we have not hertofore experienced" reflected is a "social revolution" going on in this country, which is reflected in the growth of urban areas, ghettoes, drug use, poor housing, deteriorating health, and inadequate education. "We've got to clean up our slums, we've got to establish new cities, we've got to let people establish meaning and focus to their lives," Fortas declared. Noting the widespread calls for "more efficient police forces, more efficient courts to put people in jail," Fortas asked the audience to "consider with me whether that is sensible." (continued on page 5) Abe Fortas, former U.S. Supreme Court on in this country." H.s speech Thursday associate justice, tells the Contemporary night centered on criminal correction. Issues class: "A social revolution is going Photo by Jennifer Stein |
