Gov. Mike Easley told the McClatchy papers, “The current system puts people on probation who shouldn’t be on probation. Until those people are put behind bars, this is going to continue.”

We might could put more “hair triggers” and “mean people” in prison if we didn’t have 6,171 people in for drug charges, including 2,256 black men (943 under the age of 25) for possession and other non-trafficking charges?

Plenty of room there for the 3,074 people on probation for murder, manslaughter, sexual offenses, and kidnapping, don’t you think?