DOES PRISON DECREASE CRIME? In “Mass Incarceration Hasn’t Made Us Safer” [DesNews Apr 22, 2012] Jess Rigelhaupt: a) – claims incarceration does not decrease crime, but his only evidence is that crime in America rose steadily with incarceration, while some European nations saw incarcerations and crime rates rise less. No allowance for possibly laxer laws in Europe, poorer enforcement, or unreliable statistics. Legalized marijuana, heroin, etc. automatically decreases crime and incarceration. He further: a) – cites disproportionate numbers of blacks and Latinos in prison as proof they are being discriminated against. No mention of actual crime rates per race, or any studies of same; b) – claims illegal drug problems in rural areas exceed those in large cities, with no numbers to support that c) – claims because bigger proportionate numbers of whites than blacks sell illegal drugs as proof that more whites use them, proportionately; and without authority for the first “fact”. Much of his article seems prejudice, that is opinion without visible means of support.