Yes, you read that correctly. MORE THAN 1 out of every 100 adults in the U.S. is in prison. It had to be repeated. I had trouble digesting that myself.
For the first time in the nation’s history, more than one in 100 American adults are behind bars, according to a new report.
Nationwide, the prison population grew by 25,000 last year, bringing it to almost 1.6 million, after three decades of growth that has seen the prison population nearly triple. Another 723,000 people are in local jails.
The number of American adults is about 230 million, meaning that one in every 99.1 adults is behind bars.
Incarceration rates are even higher for some groups. One in 36 adult Hispanic men is behind bars, based on Justice Department figures for 2006. One in 15 adult black men is, too, as is one in nine black men ages 20 to 34.
The report, from the Pew Center on the States, also found that one in 355 white women ages 35 to 39 is behind bars, compared with one in 100 black women.
Sadly a good percentage of these prisoners are non-violent offenders such as those guilty of DWI- even if it did not result in an accident. We still as a nation jail rather than utilize treatment to try to fix the ills of society. And don’t even get me started on the financial drain that occur as a result of these facts.
How do we compare with other parts of the world in these statistics?
The United States imprisons more people than any other nation in the world. China is second, with 1.5 million people behind bars. The gap is even wider in percentage terms.
Germany imprisons 93 out of every 100,000 people, according to the International Center for Prison Studies at King’s College in London. The comparable number for the United States is roughly eight times that, or 750 out of 100,000.
Who else has the warm fuzzies right now?
Oh… and before anyone decides to say maybe it has something to do with illegal imigrants, guess what? Recent studies call bullshit on that arguement.
The new report even bolsters claims by some academics that increased immigration makes the United States safer. A second study, released earlier this month by Washington-based nonprofit Immigration Policy Center, found that on the national level, U.S.-born men ages 18-39 are five times more likely to be incarcerated than are their foreign-born peers. And, while the number of illegal immigrants in the country doubled between 1994 and 2005, violent crime declined by nearly 35% and property crimes by 26% over the same period. The PPIC even determined that on average, between 2000 and 2005, cities such as Los Angeles that took in a higher share of recent immigrants saw their crime rates fall further than cities with a lower influx of illegals.
Go figure.
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I read this not too long ago in the Herald and thought WTF, and then I thought the whole world is shaking their collective head, not in surprise either.
I arrived here via the rss of 20 something bloggers.
I read this not too long ago in the Herald and thought WTF, and then I thought the whole world is shaking their collective head, not in surprise either.
I arrived here via the rss of 20 something bloggers.
When I read the title, the first thing that came to mind was, "Prison must be a simile for deployment. As in, One out of every 100 Americans have been deployed to the middle east."
But alas, you're literally talking about domestic prisons. Shocking statistics!
When I read the title, the first thing that came to mind was, “Prison must be a simile for deployment. As in, One out of every 100 Americans have been deployed to the middle east.”
But alas, you’re literally talking about domestic prisons. Shocking statistics!
From what I hear, you have more freedoms in prison, lol.
To help solve military personnel shortages, survey all males in prisons age 18 to 35, who are physically qualified and offer them enlistment in the Army and Marines and after completion of basic military training, assignment them to Afghanistan, Iraq or Kuwait initially and other assignments that will keep them in the branches of service for the duration of their sentences in prison. If they serve honorably, give them an Honorable Discharge along with veterans benefits when released from active duty.
To help solve military personnel shortages, survey all males in prisons age 18 to 35, who are physically qualified and offer them enlistment in the Army and Marines and after completion of basic military training, assignment them to Afghanistan, Iraq or Kuwait initially and other assignments that will keep them in the branches of service for the duration of their sentences in prison. If they serve honorably, give them an Honorable Discharge along with veterans benefits when released from active duty.
It's an interesting solution, Bob.
But I'd like to counter it by noting that one of the reasons our military is so powerful and highly functional is because it's an all volunteer civilian military. While your plan does technically offer the convicts a choice, it's one that I believe is more a choice of necessity for them instead of one completely rooted in free will.
There would need to be extensive screening of their convictions (drug related? firearms? violent crimes?). And would other soldiers feel threatened to have a convicted arms dealer serving next to them in the ranks? Not to mention a nation who is counting on those soldiers to protect their countries freedoms?
It’s an interesting solution, Bob.
But I’d like to counter it by noting that one of the reasons our military is so powerful and highly functional is because it’s an all volunteer civilian military. While your plan does technically offer the convicts a choice, it’s one that I believe is more a choice of necessity for them instead of one completely rooted in free will.
There would need to be extensive screening of their convictions (drug related? firearms? violent crimes?). And would other soldiers feel threatened to have a convicted arms dealer serving next to them in the ranks? Not to mention a nation who is counting on those soldiers to protect their countries freedoms?