Posted by Dave on 03/03/08 at 02:22:04 pm
Categories: Crime and Justice

1 in 100 U.S. Adults Behind Bars, New Study Says:

For the first time in the nation’s history, more than one in 100 American adults is behind bars, according to a new report.

Nationwide, the prison population grew by 25,000 last year, bringing it to almost 1.6 million. Another 723,000 people are in local jails. The number of American adults is about 230 million, meaning that one in every 99.1 adults is behind bars.

Even worse, if you look at the chart on the right, the criminal (in)justice system is disproportionately imprisoning minority populations, and specifically African American populations.

The United States has a problem. And the problem is throwing too many people into prison.

I have talked about this at length before (here, here - we have a criminal (in)justice system that focuses on one thing - punishment in the form of retribution. This system and completely and utterly ignores any sense of rehabilitation.

Much of the problem is the result of the foolish and harmful "War on Drugs." The system throws people into prison for minor drug offenses, and refuse to actually treat the problem. The criminalization of minor drug offenses has been an utter failure.

Another significant part of the problem is the racial and economic disparities of who actually gets punished for crimes. Poor people, and especially poor people of color, are significantly more likely to receive harsher punishments than their white, wealthy counterparts.

The system is broken. The system is not limiting or decreasing crime. The system is racist. The system is classist.

The system does not work.

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