"Prison" (Rap Lyrics)

Now the prison scene, it’s way out of hand;
It’s taking all the tax money throughout the land.

They’re taking it from schools where they need it the most;
All along … the west coast.

There’s more than 170,000 prisoners in California inside the gates;
More than all the federal prisoners throughout the whole United States.

They’re filling up the beds with non-violent folks;
An incredible amount of first termers it’s really a joke.

Only career criminals used to come to the Penn;
But now many first time drug dealers are coming in.

California’s spending $30,000 a year to house an inmate;
Yet only $5000 per child to educate.

It’s the innocent taxpayers who suffer the cost;
A quality of life that will be forever lost.

They have the extra burden of paying for this created need;
A revolving door just picking up speed.

You can come back to prison for not even breaking the law;
Just part of the ugly parole system that I saw.

Now the lifers too, have spent many years;
Yet they’re losing their dates as their release nears.

Now there’s some in prison that deserve to sit and rot;
But most are on death row are they not.

The cure to the problem is the non-violent ones;
Alternatives to prison will save lots of funds.

Make them pay their debt to society in another way;
They can work for the community and pay for their stay.

If they continue to break the law then they deserve to do their time;
They were given a chance, yet they chose crime.

Now the older generation is making the laws;
They’re out of touch with the younger generation and making flaws.

The mandatory drug sentences are the main concern;
It will never work, but will they ever learn.

Just lock-up the dealers and the problem will go away;
But drug users have to take responsibility if they want to play.

Many drug users are dealers themselves;
But if you lock them all up, there won’t be enough room on the shelves.

Prison is big business is the bottom line;
It creates a lot of jobs, which makes it just fine.

If we continue to incarcerate people at the rate that we do;
There’ll be more people in prison than out, by the year 2052. (Brookings Institute)

Think about it!!!!!

—Written by Paul Nave