7M in U.S. jails, on probation or parole

[Newsjock]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061130/ap_on_re_us/prison_population

WASHINGTON - 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 percent over the previous year, according to a report released Wednesday.

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.

... From 1995 to 2003, inmates in federal prison for drug offenses have accounted for 49 percent of total prison population growth.

... Racial disparities among prisoners persist. In the 25-29 age group, 8.1 percent of black men — about one in 13 — are incarcerated, compared with 2.6 percent of Hispanic men and 1.1 percent 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.

[TlalocW]

1. There was a big jump this past year

Of republicans swelling the ranks.

TlalocW

[saigon68]

9. It gets those "pesky blacks" off the streets

<\sarcasm>


Ask any white republican they are mostly racists and would agree fully with the above statement

The actual figure is 30 % or 3 out of ten young black men under 30, have some kind of record either juvenile or adult

[whistle]

2. Big business in America and it does not even include juveniles

[billbuckhead]

3. Makes a mockery of the notion that this is a free country

[acmejack]

4. 50% more behind bars than our closest competitor.

We really are Number One!

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_pri_per_cap-crime-prisoners-per-capita

[catmandu57]

5. That smudge on ones record stays with you for life

Even after the sentence is done, the parole, probation served, a conviction can stop many professional licenses, in some states like Florida forget voting.
It never stops, unless you're a rich republican a conviction can stop life in it's tracks.

[intheflow]

6. This is a shameful state of affairs.

It's been getting worse and worse for decades because there's big money in the prison system. Until we start looking at prisons as a growth indutry in the US, until we start having some sanity and justice in our drug laws and sentencing, this is just going to continue to worsen.

[High Plains]

7. Legalize drugs. The prison population will shrink dramatically.

Of course, then we'd need a jobs program for all those unemployed cops and prison guards...

[High Plains]

8. Also, our sentencing in general is just insanely harsh.

We have people doing decades for offenses that would merit a few years at most in civilized countries. We have people doing life as "third strikers" for stealing a few videos. We have guys like Tyrone Brown down in Texas, doing life without parole after being caught smoking a joint while on probation. Read about his case here: www.november.org/thewall/cases/brown-ty/brown-ty.html

Our resort to mass imprisonment betrays a real lack of imagination and compassion.

[brentspeak]

10. If they're violent, keep 'em behind bars.

What I don't like are things like pot users going to jail and having a permanent mark on their record. (No, I don't support smoking pot, and I've never done drugs - or even pot. Just think the 'war on pot users' is stupid.)

[High Plains]

11. For how long?

Other countries have a 20 year maximum sentence even for things like murder.

I know an Indian guy who has been sitting in prison in South Dakota for 19 years now. He has a sentence of life without parole after being involved in a bar fight where another guy got killed. It seems to me that keeping this guy in prison for 40 or 50 years until he dies is not only a waste of his life, but also a huge waste of our money.

[sarcasmo]

12. Kick to the # 1 growth industry in Corporate Amerika.

[pitohui]

13. it is an industry

the backdoor to reintroducing slavery, really

no prison should be allowed to operate for profit and no police dept. should be allowed to profit from forfeitures, there are too many people making big money destroying lives

what bothers me is, who ARE all these people in prison, since at least in the new orleans area the violent criminals are out on the streets, i give you vincent marinello as exhibit a, shoots his wife dead in the face on videotape and he is out of jail free on bond even as we speak

i can only assume that people guilty of small stuff or even just people guilty of being friends/family of the real criminals are the ones going to jail, you can't rat anyone out for a reduced sentence/dropped charges if you have done no wrong and don't know anyone to rat out to begin with

it's quite scary

a man in my parish was in prison for 15 years for a violent rape, DNA proved his brother did it

the system is totally broken

[Say_What]

14. US GULAGS The Land of the Free..... more prisoners than ANY other country

on the planet. If that isn't bad enough China, Iran, and US are known as the 'Axis of Executioners' because they hold the record for more executions than any other country. Now those are records to be proud of!! :sarcasm:

[Mr_Spock]

15. Hard to imagine that 1% of the population is in jail

I can never really get my head around that statistic. I wonder how many are there for minor drug offenses?

[Gregorian]

16. 1.5 million children without parents, due to drug incarcerations.

It's a very frustrating situation. Just the drug war. Let alone the subject of this thread.

Racial injustice is a big part of this.

The ACLU is perhaps the most important tool we have.

[Quantess]

17. Very often,

that is how the cycle begins anew.

[Gregorian]

18. I see a pattern.

Corporations.

Today I have begun to realize America's biggest problem. And the solution is actually simple. Force the corporations to treat people with respect. I'm sure I could word it more effectively. And I'm sure it's not that simple.

But when one sees that the biggest drug problem we have had is alcohol. And it has been that way long before any thought of a drug war was entertained, then the problem is institutional.

Argh. I'm kind of blabbing. I've listened to Martin King's speech on Vietnam, watched a show on ACLU actions to help drug war victims, and environmental concerns due to oil refineries.

It's the corporations who are causing most of our troubles. It's time to force them to treat us right.

[Quantess]

19. I had in mind something different.

The failure to invest in the well being of children.

Well, there are no simple answers.

[Zhade]

20. Utterly shameful.

Amnesty for all nonviolent drug 'offenders' NOW!

(Or at least, those whose actions weren't directly hurting others.)