Story here:
Growing at a rate of about 900 inmates each week between mid-2003 and mid-2004, the nation's prisons and jails held 2.1 million people, or one in every 138 U.S. residents, the government reported Sunday.By last June 30, there were 48,000 more inmates, or 2.3 percent, more than the year before, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
The total inmate population has hovered around 2 million for the past few years, reaching 2.1 million on June 30, 2002, and just below that mark a year later.
While the crime rate has fallen over the past decade, the number of people in prison and jail is outpacing the number of inmates released, said the report's co-author, Paige Harrison. For example, the number of admissions to federal prisons in 2004 exceeded releases by more than 8,000, the study found.
Harrison said the increase can be attributed largely to get-tough policies enacted in the 1980s and 1990s. Among them are mandatory drug sentences, "three-strikes-and-you're-out" laws for repeat offenders, and "truth-in-sentencing" laws that restrict early releases.
I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing.
On the one hand, a lot of these prisoners are non-violent drug offenders. If drugs were legalized or decriminalized, these individuals would not be in prison, nor would they be on the street, profiting from the black market. Many of them would presumably have to get legitimate jobs, and become tax-paying, law-abiding citizens.
On the other hand, just as the US prison population has dramatically increased, overall crime has dropped substantially. There is likely some correlation between these two factors. After all, I certainly do not want vicious rapists or deranged child-killers let loose after just a couple years of doing time. I want these scum locked away for decades.
So. Is this a sign that we are finally making serious headway in permanently reducing crime in this country? Or is it merely evidence of eroding civil liberties?
Please let us know how you feel about this topic in the comments below...
Article comments
1 - RJ
That is pretty scary.
2 - JR
On the other hand, just as the US prison population has dramatically increased, overall crime has dropped substantially. There is likely some correlation between these two factors.
Is it the get-tough policies, or is it the abortions?
3 - Lee
The American Justice System
Thomas Jefferson worried that the courts would overstep their authority and instead of interpreting the law would begin making law.
The American justice system, as good as it is, has many BIG problems.
The USA imprisons almost 1/3 of the world’s prison population. This is by far more than any other country.
In states that do DNA testing, 7% of the men and women on death row have been proven innocent of the crime that put them there. Just think of how many people not on death row who are serving time in our country’s jails and prisons are innocent of the crimes they have been charged with. Because of bad laws like California’s strike three and you’re out law and Oregon’s Measure 11 law, these people are imprisoned for years and years, and many, are branded for life.
Many of the men and women who work for or in the justice system, be they judges, counselors, police, probation officers, or district attorneys, are not qualified or properly trained for the positions they hold. As humans a percentage of them have no or low moral values. Some of them lie for money, some lie for political gain, and yes some get corrupted by the mere power they possess, and thus innocent people get put into our jails along with the criminals.
The fact is Americans are in a state of denial that this is happening in our country. The topic is taboo and rarely gets discussed by individuals or by the news media.
I just ask you to please pray, and not forget about the large number of branded innocent men, women, and yes even children in our American prisons and jails, that no one seems to even want to talk about.
Thank you for your time, actions and prayers.