Here Today... Gone To Hell!

U.S. has most prisoners in world due to tough laws



By James Vicini 2 hours, 25 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tough sentencing laws, record numbers of drug offenders and high crime rates have contributed to the United States having the largest prison population and the highest rate of incarceration in the world, according to criminal justice experts.

A U.S. Justice Department report released on November 30 showed that a record 7 million people -- or one in every 32 American adults -- were behind bars, on probation or on parole at the end of last year. Of the total, 2.2 million were in prison or jail.

According to the International Center for Prison Studies at King's College in London, more people are behind bars in the United States than in any other country. China ranks second with 1.5 million prisoners, followed by Russia with 870,000.

The U.S. incarceration rate of 737 per 100,000 people in the highest, followed by 611 in Russia and 547 for St. Kitts and Nevis. In contrast, the incarceration rates in many Western industrial nations range around 100 per 100,000 people.

Groups advocating reform of U.S. sentencing laws seized on the latest U.S. prison population figures showing admissions of inmates have been rising even faster than the numbers of prisoners who have been released.

"The United States has 5 percent of the world's population and 25 percent of the world's incarcerated population. We rank first in the world in locking up our fellow citizens," said Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance, which supports alternatives in the war on drugs.

"We now imprison more people for drug law violations than all of western Europe, with a much larger population, incarcerates for all offenses."

Ryan King, a policy analyst at The Sentencing Project, a group advocating sentencing reform, said the United States has a more punitive criminal justice system than other countries.

MORE PEOPLE TO PRISON

"We send more people to prison, for more different offenses, for longer periods of time than anybody else," he said.

Drug offenders account for about 2 million of the 7 million in prison, on probation or parole, King said, adding that other countries often stress treatment instead of incarceration.

Commenting on what the prison figures show about U.S. society, King said various social programs, including those dealing with education, poverty, urban development, health care and child care, have failed.

"There are a number of social programs we have failed to deliver. There are systemic failures going on," he said. "A lot of these people then end up in the criminal justice system."

Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in California, said the high prison numbers represented a proper response to the crime problem in the United States. Locking up more criminals has contributed to lower crime rates, he said.

"The hand-wringing over the incarceration rate is missing the mark," he said.

Scheidegger said the high prison population reflected cultural differences, with the United States having far higher crimes rates than European nations or Japan. "We have more crime. More crime gets you more prisoners."

Julie Stewart, president of the group Families Against Mandatory Minimums, cited the Justice Department report and said drug offenders are clogging the U.S. justice system.

"Why are so many people in prison? Blame mandatory sentencing laws and the record number of nonviolent drug offenders subject to them," she said.

lol, I'm one of em, stupid probation

This hits close to home for me too, as my brother has a warrant for his arrest in Philadelphia for public drunkedness (at least that is what he says the arrest is for) and has previous drinking related arrests/fines. His roomate got in a drunk driving crash and killed the passenger he was driving with. I think he plans on leaving the state instead of going to prison. I agree with being inprisoned for drinking and driving, but drug use i think should less of a crime, unless its like meth or one of those white trash drugs that eventually lead people to commit more serious crimes.

Hmmmm - do you believe that to be true?  I'm thinking that it's the ONLY punishment that the US has.  For example, if you damage someone's car (spray pain or key), that's the punishment.  I remember when this kid from Ohio did that in China, I think, he was caned!

So would you support caning teenagers who were complete assholes?? Any form of punishment other than incarceration would never fly in America or any other Western country.? We aren't even allowed to spank children anymore.? I'm for the complete legalization of all controlled substances.? I think it should be taxed.? I'm also for the removal of any DUI laws.? If you fuck up and hurt someone you should be punished, I don't care if you were under the influence or not.? rather than keep criminals in comfortable prisons (my father is a superintendent at a major prison) they should be put into labor camps.? Don't kid yourselves, the point of prison is punishment, not rehabilitation.? So let's start treating it like that.

This is a very personal issue to me as my father was beaten and almost killed 2 years ago by an inmate over a disagreement on work hours.  The majority of our prison members aren't in there for drugs alone, they did some violent act or committed felonial theft, maybe they were under teh influence, maybe they weren't.  There's a reason why we have a 66% of repeat offenders in our prisons.

All I know is that I would bet that kid wouldn't do anything like that in China again!  :hihi:

I agree with labor camps - hell, some of those prisons have gyms, tvs, libraries, etc...  I know a prison guard here and he says that every time the weather gets cold, he has a huge influx of inmates who have told them that they wanted to get caught so they could get in out of the cold and have 3 meals a day!  Something is wrong with that!

Inmates are animals.? My dad told me how they just caught one inmate who had been raping and pimping out another inmate for months.? Inmates aren't requires to leave their cells (at my father's prison they have pods) and most if not all have TVs and playstaions in their cells.? This particular inmate would lock his cell mate in a locker while he was as work, come hope beat him and fuck him everyday.? This went on for months.? That is where the term "punk" comes from.? To be a punk is to be someone's bitch in prison.? I never understood why people like calling themselves punk.

Yikes!  :nervous:  Your dad must work in a max security?  That will attract the "best" criminals.

Now more "punk"  :-X  Is that how the show "punk'd" came about?  :P

Mostof the inmates are level 5 meaning the most dangerous.  Alot of the population there are sex offenders.  He has a father, son duo in there who raped the son's 2 year old daughter.  Real class acts.

I can't stand even reading shit like that!  :no:

Haha I've been there bro. It's fun eh?

this I find hard to believe...you are saying that in a max. secure prison in the US that they allow this? they must if they can't find one of its inmates because he has been locked in a locker all day, repeatedly. What do you think they do? turn their head the other way and let this go on?pretty lax security fo a MSP and for the record, is your father IN prison or does he work for one? Inmates are not animals, they are human beings who have made grievious errors in their life and are paying the price for it. I am sure your prison lingo does not translate into real life either punk. ;)

Obviously it's not allowed.? They have role calls in the morning and afternoon.? He was put away after morning role call.? I can't believe you defend people in prison for some of these heinous crimes.? Someone who rapes children isn't a "human who made a grievous error", they're a worthless piece of shit who should be shot.?

Your comments show how ignorant and naieve you are.  The guards make 22k a year and you expect them to be impecible watchman?  Give me a break.  Just ask one person who's been in prison and they'll tell you how civil it is there.

The sad way I look at it........is basically job security for me.  And believe me when I say business is good.  I work with inmates daily.  Murders, rapists, theives, drug dealers, child molestors...it's a tough business, but someone's gotta do it.  And the system itself is a joke.  You'd be suprised to see how good these inmates have it.  Some of them absolutely love prison, because it's a safehaven (fucked up, but it's the only way they can survive).  To them it's a giant block party with all their homies. 

I'm a guard and I make way more than 22k a year.  I work at a level 5 max state facility and it's always interesting day in and day out.  I could tell you inmates are civil and in a large part they are.  The majority of inmates with the life sentences aren't your trouble makers.  They tend to like it quiet and calm because it's their home.  It's the short timers 2-5 year guys that are your main trouble.  We have 2250 inmates with over 600 lifers.  I hate the young motherfuckers though.  They need stricter punishment.  I do agree on work camps.  The state boot camps work well, but they're doing away with a lot of those programs.  You'd be suprised on how well the recovery rate is with them.  We actually only have one state one left in PA.  It's a shame really.  Great program.

What cracks me up most though is how prison guards are viewed by the media and the public in general.  Name one prison movie that actually shows prison in a good way.  They always turn the inmates into the good guys.  Guards assaulting inmates is a huge thing of the past and is very rare with the age of technology (we have cameras in practically every area of the prison).  Corrections is the red-headed bitch child of Law Enforcement and it's a shame.  Studies show that a state policeman on average may come in contact with a felon maybe 8 times in their career.  However I've stood in the middle of 300+ killers and violent criminals at any given time in the hallway and it really takes a set of balls. 

I admire you Bill213 for telling it like it is. All I can say to you is "be safe!" :-*

I remember watching season one of OZ and being scared shitless of ever going to jail.  Great show.