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

[madmusic]

KASIE HUNT
Associated Press

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.

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 percent while the number of male inmates rose 1.9 percent. By year's end, 7 percent 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."

more: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/16126559.htm

EDIT: Hat tip to talkleft.com

[Vexatious Ape]

1. We can thank the "War on Drugs"

for much of this. Freedom on the freaking march.

[madmusic]

2. For 49% of it, in fact....

That's a lot of kids without a parent or two. Maybe that's the plan - population control. Unless the women are impregnated by a guard.

Serious question... Is it only the libertarian leaning D's who care about this or do progressives care, or is it part of the progressive plan like colonies for the feebleminded in the Progressive Era?

[Trillo]

3. I've often wondered,

given that prisons are typically one of the stronger built buildings, thick cement walls, bars, etc.,, what a recovering civilization would say, after an epidemic wiped out 99.9% of the population, about us based upon the remaining architecture that would be somewhat more persistent than our homes and typical commercial buildings that would likely disappear in 50-100 years.

Yep. This was a real oppressive culture. The had prisons housing most of their people, and missile silos with vast military bases. A real oppressive and war like culture.

I'm not at all certain they'd be wrong at all. Too much money in prisons. Too much money in everything, except for the common folk.