U.S. Imprisons more people than China and Russia

[Etta Place]

US jail numbers at all-time high

A new study of US prisons has found that numbers of people in jail are at an all-time high, with more than 1% of the adult population behind bars.
The Pew Center report calls the US the global leader in the rate at which it imprisons its citizens.

Over 2.3 million people were being held this year, it said - far ahead of other countries with large prison populations like China, Russia and Iran.

The report called for fewer low-risk offenders to be sent to jail.

Soaring costs

It claims that the growing prison population "is saddling cash-strapped states with soaring costs they can ill afford, and failing to have a clear impact either on recidivism or overall crime".

With 750 inmates per 100,000 people, imprisonment cost the 50 states more than $49bn last year, up from less than $11bn 20 years earlier.

The rate of increase for prison costs was found to be six times greater than for higher education spending.


RATES OF INCARCERATION
USA: 750 prisoners per 100,000 people
South Africa: 341 per 100,000
Iran: 222 per 100,000
China: 119 per 100,000

According to the Pew Center study, the higher rates of incarceration did not reflect a similar increase in crime, or in population, but tougher sentencing measures.

Some states, though, such as Texas and Kansas, have acted to slow their prison population growth, with greater use of community supervision for lower-risk offenders, and sanctions other than prison for minor probation and parole violations.

Disproportionate numbers

The numbers were "especially startling", according to the Pew Center report, for some groups in the population.

"While one in 30 men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars, for black males in that age group the figure is one in nine."

The total of 2.3 million adults held in prison - or one in every 99.1 adults - puts the US far head of other countries.

China, with its far greater population, has 1.5 million people behind bars, and Russia has 890,000.

Story from BBC NEWS:
BBC NEWS | Americas | US jail numbers at all-time high


Shocking numbers for a "free" society.

[yeahYeah]

i wonder what Russia and China's immigration policies are....

[robinsre]

I sincerely doubt that the number of people "imprisoned" in Russia and China are accurately represented.

If you are arrested in places like that you're not exactly guaranteed a fair trial, you kind of just.....disappear.

[yeahYeah]

anything to make America look bad.

our prison population is through the roof because of our immigration policies and liberalism.

[mgeoffriau]

So is this article an argument for capital punishment or what?

[yeahYeah]

Michigan's prison budget is higher then its education budget....that's sad.

It's safe to say that most of the prisons are filled with people who comes from poverty ridden areas...these areas are usually socialist liberal meccas...so it's just a product of a political thought process.

[tmorr37]

Most of them are the new Lib laws Like taking a Belt to your kids.
and if you get past that one then we hold you responsible for the trouble they get in,

Most is Russia or china are just never seen again.
you have to be alive to be a statistic.

[Ed Ely]

Etta, I just read this same info in
my new June issue of Playboy.

If by chance those of you who have
not read the article in Playboy, it is
a great read.

Shows off Cali and their climb of those
who are incarcerated. Of those whom
are incarcerated, it mentions the plight
of the black vs. brown issue. Appears
that the browns are winning the control
of those prisons in Cali.

Very good write-up and highly suggested
reading.

Until we rid this society of drugs, we are
just spinning our wheels putting gangsters
in prison. Hello, it is no more than a college
of higher learning for these guys and they
come out with a higher degree of knowledge
than what they went in with.

Etta, me off the stump, and thanx for bringing
the issue forward.

Ed

[DanTheEldest]

We're supposed to apologize for a criminal justice system that works? I concur that a good argument can be made for reevaluation of our sentencing guidelines, particularly in minor offenses, but the fact remains that the overwhelming majority of the people who got locked up aren't there because they're innocent.

[justgotback]

Originally Posted by Etta Place

Story from BBC NEWS:
BBC NEWS | Americas | US jail numbers at all-time high


Shocking numbers for a "free" society.

Are you insinuating that we are anything other than a free society Etta?