Interesting how the top states are all 'southern' states...is there any significance to that fact? U.S. report: 2.2 million now in prisons, jails Almost 1,100 inmates added every week from 2004 to 2005, agency finds http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12901873/from/RSS/ WASHINGTON - Prisons and jails added more than 1,000 inmates each week for a year, putting almost 2.2 million people, or one in every 136 U.S. residents, behind bars by last summer. The total on June 30, 2005, was 56,428 more than at the same time in 2004, the government reported Sunday. That 2.6 percent increase from mid-2004 to mid-2005 translates into a weekly rise of 1,085 inmates. Of particular note was the gain of 33,539 inmates in jails, the largest increase since 1997, researcher Allen J. Beck said. That was a 4.7 percent growth rate, compared with a 1.6 percent increase in people held in state and federal prisons. Prisons accounted for about two-thirds of all inmates, or 1.4 million, while the other third, nearly 750,000, were in local jails, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Beck, the bureau’s chief of corrections statistics, said the increase in the number of people in the 3,365 local jails is due partly to their changing role. Jails often hold inmates for state or federal systems, as well as people who have yet to begin serving a sentence. “The jail population is increasingly unconvicted,” Beck said. “Judges are perhaps more reluctant to release people pretrial.” The report by the Justice Department agency found that 62 percent of people in jails have not been convicted, meaning many of them are awaiting trial. Overall, 738 people were locked up for every 100,000 residents, compared with a rate of 725 at mid-2004. The states with the highest rates were Louisiana and Georgia, with more than 1 percent of their populations in prison or jail. Rounding out the top five were Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma. The states with the lowest rates were Maine, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Vermont and New Hampshire. Men were 10 times to 11 times more likely than women to be in prison or jail, but the number of women behind bars was growing at a faster rate, said Paige M. Harrison, the report’s other author. Racial disparity persists The racial makeup of inmates changed little in recent years, Beck said. In the 25-29 age group, an estimated 11.9 percent of black men were in prison or jails, compared with 3.9 percent of Hispanic males and 1.7 percent of white males. Marc Mauer, executive director of The Sentencing Project, which supports alternatives to prison, said the incarceration rates for black people were troubling. “It’s not a sign of a healthy community when we’ve come to use incarceration at such rates,” he said. Mauer also criticized sentencing guidelines, which he said remove judges’ discretion, and said arrests for drug and parole violations swell prisons. “If we want to see the prison population reduced, we need a much more comprehensive approach to sentencing and drug policy,” he said.
I'm glad the article discussed racial disparity, but it should've mentioned that blacks make-up over half the prison population even though they make up around 12% of the total population
According to the 2005 study, the United States has the highest prison population rate in the world, some 714 per 100,000 of the national population, followed by Belarus, Bermuda and Russia (all 532), Palau (523), U.S. Virgin Islands (490), Turkmenistan (489), Cuba (487), Suriname (437), Cayman Islands (429), Belize (420), Ukraine (417), Maldive Islands (416), St Kitts and Nevis (415), South Africa (413) and Bahamas (410). The US is certainly qualified to be the undisputed leader of the "Land of Not-Free". Not sure how much impact of legalization of the drugs will have on the US prisoner rate, though. Source: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/rel/icps/world-prison-population-list-2005.pdf
How many blacks are released felons who can't vote too? I bet a large percentage of the black population in this country is completely disenfranchised from the electoral process.
Help me understand, Saint Louis. Are convicted felons in the U.S. not allowed to vote 1) forever, 2) while in prison, or 3) while on paroles? You know there is a thing in China's sentencing term called stripping one's political rights for certain number of years, or in worst case, life time without political rights. In any case, though, the term with no political rights is equal to or shorter (in most cases) than one's actual prison term. One without political rights means one can not vote or be put on ballot. I personally think the Western media mistakenly take this as political prisoner. Cohen, I hope you are reading this thread.
Felons aren't necessarily disenfranchised- it depends on the state and the offense. In certain states inmates even vote.
I'm probably remembering the 2000 election and Florida. Here is something I found. link Former Felons Can Vote -- In Some States Daily Policy Digest Government & Political Issues / Elections Thursday, October 17, 2002 In most states, released felons are deprived of the right to vote, in some cases for the rest of their lives. In some states, the prohibition applies only while felons are in prison, or on probation or parole. But in 14 states, ex-offenders who have completed their sentences may not vote, usually for life. Nationwide, nearly four million people are disenfranchised by these laws. According to the Sentencing Project, felony disenfranchisement among black men is seven times the national average, and in Alabama and Florida, 31 percent of black men are permanently disenfranchised. However, in the past five years, five states have rescinded or modified their laws, restoring the vote to more than 450,000 people. There are movements afoot in several states, including Virginia and Alabama, to extend the vote to former felons. The notion that former felons should not be allowed to vote dates back to medieval Europe, says the New York Times, where criminals were banished and suffered "civil death." Post-Reconstruction, felony disenfranchisement was used to deny the vote to blacks in some southern states. Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) has introduced a bill to grant former inmates the right to vote in federal elections. And a class-action suit before the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta seeks to strike down Florida's laws, which deny voting rights to more than 600,000 people. Source: Editorial, "Former Felons Have a Right to Vote," New York Times, October 17, 2002
Thanks for the read, Saint Louis. Now my comments/questions to the general public. So in comparison -- well one can always contend that Americans enjoy more political freedom in the US than Chinese in PRC, which I have no problem agreeing with -- strictly speaking, convicted felons are more likely to be able to vote in China than in USA. The reason is, as I stated earlier, only in extreme cases, namely, life or death/delayed death sentence (which is non-exceptionally guranteed to convert to life sentence when the delayed term expires) will the convicted felons not be able to vote. Although I am not 100% sure, but I think there is no probation/parole in PRC. One either serves out his/her term or gets released earlier as a free person, both physically and politically. In that sense, I have to say China's system is fairer than that of the US. Why does one have to carry lifelong stigma when one is done with the prison? Here's another thing I find puzzling. Is it true that one's voting rights is also one's Constitutional rights? Or to scale it down a bit, isn't there a federal law called Voting Rights Act stipulating one's right to vote at the federal level? If so, why isn't there a federal guideline governing the voting rights of convicted felons in all the 50 states?
Here is an old story from back in September 2000. Some states have probably changed their laws but it provides some insight into the debacle that was the 2000 presidential election. One In Eight Black Men Can't Vote WASHINGTON, Sept. 22, 2000 Link to full CBS News story
Strictly speaking are the key words here, the average Chinese voter has almost zero influence on the leadership of the country.
While it's true the National People's Congress in PRC used to be rubber stamp, but lately it has seen increasing legislative power on China's policies. Unanimous consent is also a thing of the past, as dissenting opinions and voices have become more and more commonplace. I am in no way satisfied with the pace of political reform in PRC, but but, we are talking about prisons/prisoners here, dp. Let's stick to the topic. Did Cohen send you here?
Just wondering... Does the fact that the U.S. has the highest % of its populace behind prison bars mean that we have the best "law and order" society in the world, or does it mean that we have the most criminals? Or is it both?
I think our society tries to address every social problem with a new law. I also think the War on Drugs accounts for a large percentage of the millions in prison. and the prison industrial complex makes huge profits...
Neah, just wanted to point out its a little hard to judge which systems is fairer when they are completely different.
Good question. Everyone who cares about the well being of this country ought to deeply reflect on it.
If I am not mistaken they tend to be disenfranchised in the old Confedrate States. In addition to higher prison populations, the southern states tend to be the lowest in welfare payments and education levels and highest in Bible reading and church attendance, too.
education and standard of living in southern states definitely plays a factor in the role of percentage of inmates.
a couple of things.... 1. i think if we decriminalized weed then we would see a pretty big drop in those numbes and it is something we need to do. 2. how long can we (mainstream white america) go on ignoring that there is a major problem in the african american community? i'm sorry but it is almost impossible to convince me that the high crime/imprisonment rate is simply related to poverty and racism. the complete collapse of the african american family structure within the past 30 years or so just can't be allowed to continue and i have no clue how you stop it. there is racism and poverty WRT other minorities in america, but to me it seems the increase in single parent households and acceptance of having children without any male figure in a child's life cannot be ignored. i don't know how you change culture, but the absence of father figures and acceptance of having children outside of a committed relationship is not a positive thing.
Thats a pretty scary stat. 62% of 750K in custidy awaiting trial. Is there too long a wait between charges and trial?
