Why We Need Criminal Justice Reform in 2007

[madmusic]

By Jeralyn, Section Inmates and Prisons
Tags: War on Drugs, Prison population (all tags)

Via the New York City Independent Media Center and the DMI blog:

These are some statistics from the Department of Justice reflecting data through 2005.

What they tell us: America continues to be a prison nation. The drug war doesn't work. Over-incarceration doesn't work. Our elected officials in Congress need to spend time addressing these issues in 2007.

* the prison population grew 1.9% over the past year
* the United States has 2,320,359 people incarcerated
* in 1995, America sentenced 411 people per 100,000 residents; today it is 491
* there are around 600,000 more people in jail today than 10 years ago
* since 1995, the total number of male prisoners has grown 34%; female prisoners have risen 57%

* if you incarcerated every person in the U.S. Virgin Islands, it would equal the number of women incarcerated in the United States
* 39 states experienced a growth in their prison populations, some over 10%

* including people on parole and probation, the total correctional population in America grew by almost 2 million between 1995 and 2005 (from 5,342,900 to 7,056,000); since 1990, that number has increased by 2.5 million (or by 57%)
* there are at least 1.2 million more people on parole or probation than there were 10 years ago
* in the past 25 years, the rate of adult residents under correctional supervision nearly tripled (from 1,117 per 100,000 to 3,150 per 100,000)

* there are more people on probation in Texas and California than there are residents of San Francisco
* state and federal inmates held in private prisons increased 8.8% and 9.2%, respectively
* federal prisons were operating at 34% above capacity; 23 states reported operating at 100% or more of their higher capacity

a lot more: http://www.talkleft.com/story/2006/12/26/192310/49

[caffeinefwee]

1. how ironic

if Bush were not president, how many years would he get for his crimes?