American Adult Dept: The original intent was to prevent Americans from, say, poaching elephants in Kenya. But it has been interpreted to mean that they must abide by every footling wildlife regulation on Earth. The lobster-men had no idea they were breaking the law. Yet three of them got eight years apiece. Two are still in jail, according to Montreal Gazette. No other rich country is nearly as punitive as the Land of the Free. The U.S. rate of incarceration is five times that of Britain's, nine times that of Germany's, and 12 times that of Japan's and in 2000, four Americans were charged with importing lobster tails in plastic bags rather than cardboard boxes, in violation of a Honduran regulation that Honduras no longer enforces. They had fallen foul of the Lacey Act, which bars Americans from breaking foreign rules when hunting or fishing. America is different from the rest of the world in lots of ways, many of them good. One of the bad ones is its willingness to lock up its citizens. One American adult in 100 festers behind bars with the rate rising to one in nine for young black men . Its imprisoned population, at 2.3 million, exceeds that of 15 of its states. As
reported in the news.
@t montreal gazette, lacey act
26.7.10