Fix the criminal system
In March 2004, five months after the raid, Mr Norris was indicted, handcuffed and thrown into a cell with a suspected murderer and two suspected drug-dealers.
His crime. Selling orchids. On the side. The feds claimed he was the Kingpin of an international flora smuggling ring. No proof, mind you, but his legal bills exploded and he was forced to plead guilty. Instead of the justice system working like it should, it turned out to pretty much rest on who had the most money to pursue the case. The feds tend to believe their wallet is bottomless. The innocent civilian? Not so much.
And our jails are packed with people who simply do not need to be there.
Justice is harsher in America than in any other rich country. Between 2.3m and 2.4m Americans are behind bars, roughly one in every 100 adults. If those on parole or probation are included, one adult in 31 is under “correctional” supervision. As a proportion of its total population, America incarcerates five times more people than Britain, nine times more than Germany and 12 times more than Japan. Overcrowding is the norm. Federal prisons house 60% more inmates than they were designed for. State lock-ups are only slightly less stuffed.
Off the top of my head, I'd say the vast majority of those there are drug related. If you're a murderer, child pornographer, or rapist, you can get out relatively easy. Orchid salesmen and Massachusetts residence with a magazine capacity of greater than 10 rounds are out of luck.