Posted on 11/30/2006 2:04:02 AM PST by Mrs Ivan
A record 7 million people - or one in every 32 American adults - were behind bars, on probation or on parole by the end of last year, according to the Justice Department.
Of those, 2.2 million were in prison or jail, an increase of 2.7 per cent over the previous year, according to a report.
More than 4.1 million people were on probation and 784,208 were on parole at the end of 2005. Prison releases are increasing, but admissions are increasing more.
Men still far outnumber women in prisons and jails, but the female population is growing faster. Over the past year, the female population in state or federal prison increased 2.6 per cent while the number of male inmates rose 1.9 per cent. By year's end, 7 per cent of all inmates were women. The gender figures do not include inmates in local jails.
"Today's figures fail to capture incarceration's impact on the thousands of children left behind by mothers in prison," Marc Mauer, the executive director of the Sentencing Project, a Washington-based group supporting criminal justice reform, said in a statement. "Misguided policies that create harsher sentences for nonviolent drug offenses are disproportionately responsible for the increasing rates of women in prisons and jails."
From 1995 to 2003, inmates in federal prison for drug offences have accounted for 49 per cent of total prison population growth.
The numbers are from the annual report from the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics. The report breaks down inmate populations for state and federal prisons and local jails.
Racial disparities among prisoners persist. In the 25-29 age group, 8.1 per cent of black men - about one in 13 - are incarcerated, compared with 2.6 per cent of Hispanic men and 1.1 per cent of white men. And it's not much different among women. By the end of 2005, black women were more than twice as likely as Hispanics and over three times as likely as white women to be in prison.
Certain states saw more significant changes in prison population. In South Dakota, the number of inmates increased 11 per cent over the past year, more than any other state. Montana and Kentucky were next in line with increases of 10.4 per cent and 7.9 per cent, respectively. Georgia had the biggest decrease, losing 4.6 per cent, followed by Maryland with a 2.4 per cent decrease and Louisiana with a 2.3 per cent drop.
"Is this truw?"
I believe I heard yesterday, some 53% are in prison for minor (or not so minor) drug offences. There has to be another way!
Castration would work.
ML/NJ
" the hating itself is not the crime. What people do when they act upon the hate makes them a "criminal". "
Exactly!!
And yet, in most jurisdictions, the "hating, itself" *is* a crime, with its own set of criminal sanctions over-and-above those imposed as retribution for the actual *act*....
I've just realised I made a typo! Sorry!
We have way too many stupid laws.
It is a very difficult question - there needs to be a real deterrant IMO.
Here are some conservative essays on it. Liberals basically have the same opinion, though different wording.
I've seen workfare work up close. One guy I knew went from third generation workfare to making $85k in under ten years.
I've seen kids from very, very bad neighborhoods working at places like Starbucks or Old Navy, earning a decent enough salary and going to college nights.
Despite popular perception, crime really doesn't pay that well.
http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=1615&kaid=115&subid=146
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/Test062701.cfm
should read "third generation welfare..."
that plus an aging boomer population with little or no retirement plans, relying solely on soc security will strain our system to the breaking point
"I find this odd. I know many people. Hundreds and I can only think of one who was ever in jail for a night and that case was thrown out."
That you know of
Well, the number dropped dramatically on January 20, 2001, when 176 Friends of Bill were given get out of jail free cards.
We'll also have an aging prison population that will require healthcare.
Prison is an attractive solution to many people because it is simple and quantifiable: the bad guys aren't out among us.
However, it's very, very expensive and at the end of the day not very efficient.
There will always be criminals.
Always someone around who wants something for nothing and will cripple or kill to get it.
If an animal becomes a killer that animal must be dealt with. Ubfortunately we cannot simply "put down" people, we have to jail them.
This sounds about right to me. That's about 3 out of every 100 people who can't seem to keep out of trouble with the law. And they're obviously being dealt with.
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OK, tell us all, what recent laws are responsible for the increase?
We'll always have criminals, some of them highly disturbed -- crazy as hell. Check out Richard Rhodes' Why They Kill.
The idea is to save the ones who can be saved
Look, some of these guys are going to end up costing the taxpayer $3 million or more for a lifetime of food, lodging, medical attention, etc. etc. Punishment is very, very expensive.
i sense a Lifetime Movie coming....
Of course there are many more law to break today than existed 50 years ago.
i sense a Lifetime Movie coming....
What you should be sensing is the next generation of criminals.
It is because of idiots like you that people have had it with Republicans. A criminal is someone who breaks the criminal code - that is the law. Breaking the law by violating the civil code does not make you a criminal. For instance, you are not a criminal if you break the law by overstaying your welcome in a parking meter.
Furthermore, there is the problem that a lot of things have ended up being defined as felonies that used to be civil violations only.
And then idiots like you have incentivized the whole game by creating a privatized for profit prison system - and there I definitely part company with Repbuplicans. The power of the state to affect life, liberty and property should be exercised by the state only, and not by private contractors. PERIOD.
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