Posted on 11/29/2006 7:59:41 PM PST by NormsRevenge
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, 2,193,798 were in prison or jail, an increase of 2.7 percent over the previous year.
Even though data show more prison releases, the report said, admissions still exceed releases. More than 4.1 million people were on probation and 784,208 were on parole at the end of 2005.
Men still far outnumber women in prisons and jails, but the female population is growing faster. Over the past year, the population females 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.
"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."
From 1995 until 2003, inmates in federal prison for drug offenses have accounted for 49 percent of total prison population growth.
Racial disparities among prisoners persist. In the 25-29 age group, 8.1 percent — about one in every 13 — of black men are incarcerated, compared with 2.6 percent of Hispanic men and 1.1 percent of white men. And it's not much different among women. By the end of 2005, black women were more than twice as likely as Hispanics and over three times as white women to be in prison.
Certain states saw more significant changes in prison population. In South Dakota, the number of inmates increased 11 percent over the past year, more than any other state. Montana and Kentucky were next in line with increases of 10.4 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively. Georgia had the biggest decrease, losing 4.6 percent, followed by Maryland with a 2.4 percent decrease and Louisiana with a 2.3 percent drop.
Uh, No, wait.
A cell at the state prison in Warren, Maine is shown in this 2002 file photo. 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. (AP Photo/Joel Page)
Stupid drug war.
Lack of responsibility is spreading, aided and encouraged by modern public education.
What they did and how they got there is seldom mentioned by such advocates.
This is deceptive. How many of the 7M are American Citizens? I seem to reall reading 2M were illegals. Maybe someone can verify.
LBT
-=-=-
You hit the nail on the head. We have too many laws and we have an executive and judiciary run amuck at every level. Most people are breaking 'behavorial' laws they dont even know exist. And its easier for DA's to try (actually strong arm into pleas) Joe Average for alleged BS charges than to have Police actually catch criminals. The system is upside down.
Nope. To end up in a prison is rather the outcome of a lack of education. Public education may have its faults but the placement of information is for sure not the source of crime and violence. The teachers do not tell those kids to murder or rape.
The problem lies in the American society that is obviously unable to encourage and patronize kids that were not born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Not those kids are bad, the system that does not provide any equality of opportunity is. I am also no friend of egalitarianism, but you should understand it as a investment into the future to give public schools the means to enable their pupils to have success through solid knowledge transfer. Isn't it your American "Declaration of Independence" that contains the "Pursuit of Happiness"? Love it or hate it, that is a problem that can not be solved with homeschooling or some hypocritical "godly" (sarcasm) advices. Kids (no matter where they come from) need help, ethics and education.
Those cram-full prisons are a shame for America.
Greetings from good old Europe (Lake Constance, Germany) :-)
A.B.
You and I are in complete agreement.
No problem, and thanks for posting that additional info.
seems kind of low
"Love it or hate it, that is a problem that can not be solved with homeschooling".
Disagree. If more kids GOT that sort of time and attention and commitment from their parents, our prisons would be almost empty.
It's the kids who don't get family support that are in trouble. Public school is no substitute for a family with a loving married mother and father.
We've got great teachers and good programs at my local school, where I volunteer. I can tell you almost immediately which kids will do well and which will do poorly. In almost every case, the failure is family related.
BTW, people don't need a "silver spoon in their mouths" to be decent, productive citizens, or to raise good kids. What they need are good standards, lots of love, and the ability to make a lifetime commitment.
The US school system deliberately does not "teach values". Every teacher I have spoken to has assured me of this, that the teaching method and content does not include "Value judgements" of any type. You can see this in the crime stats.
Self esteem is a big deal, self respect is not.
As for kids born with a silver spoon, I think the median income is less than 50,000 USD. Rich silver spoon kids are quite rare. If what you suggest is true then American education ignores most kids.
There is equality of opportunity, but the motivation to get it is lost in teaching entitlement mentality, that a good living is "owed" due to socialist thinking. When the good living is not handed to the kids automatically, bitterness and apathy result.
I'll take a stupid drug war over a nation of coke zombies man
You bet. Don't want to be the source of bad data. My old age and early Alzheimers was definitely showing...hehe. :-)
LBT
-=-=-
---
Whew,, and here I thought it was a Danny Devito moment. :-)
It is no accident that crime has escalated in this country in concert with the rise of characteristic liberal fashions of governance.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.