One percent of American adults now incarcerated

For the first time in history, more than one in a hundred American adults is behind bars--not on parole, or probation, but actually locked up right now.

Kay Steiger notes that prison spending is creeping up on higher ed spending:

Twenty years ago we spent 32 cents on prisons for every dollar we spent on higher ed, today, it's 60 cents. This is due in large part to the crunch on state budgets--the first thing to be trimmed from the budget is usually colleges and universities. The reasoning is that students can pay higher tuition rates to make up the difference, but with prisons, an increased population must be supported by the state. [TAPPED]

How 'bout that war on drugs, eh?

Comments

[Lesley]

That three strikes out law is a handy way to create a cheap source of labour.

[Bruce the Canuck]

I used to agree with the sentiment that it's a bad sign if 1% of the population is in jail. With more life experience, I think it's probably half the right number.

We've probably all met people so abusive that they're *always* hurting someone badly, it's just their victim of the week that changes. A coworker, an employee, a boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse, what have you. Using slander, emotional abuse, monetary or professional fraud to small for the police to care.

The number of actual sociopaths / psychopaths is supposed to be between 1 and 4%. Most of them aren't violent enough to wind up in jail. They're white collar criminals, or workplace bullies who openly brag about pushing people into stress leave, or both.

The problem isn't the number of people in prison. It's that not enough of them are the right people.

If we focussed on busting white collar criminals and those who make *threats* of violence, and slackening the drug laws, we might get the *right* 1-2% warehoused in jail.

[cfrost]

From the Guardian article on the same subject:
“The number of prisoners in (U.S.) federal and local jails grew to 2.3 million . . .
China, with a population far greater than America's, comes in second with 1.5 million prisoners, and Russia third with 890,000.”

U.S.A. # 1! U.S.A. # 1!

[milo]

well, I was impressed that you picked up on an important issue for a change. But you don't seem to offer a single interesting insight or pose a single interesting question. Here's a thought for you: in what country is prison rape state sanctioned? I suspect you people are too fucking studid to even be mildly curious to know the answer.....

[Mandos]

OK, I'll bite. I googled "state-sanctioned prison rape" and did not come up with any hits that mentioned a jurisdiction that legally permits state sanction after going through several pages of apparently irrelevant hits.

[Mandos]

er, typo. That legally permits prison rape.

Unless by "state-sanctioned" you mean something more broad like "the state clandestinely supports it". In which case there may well be a long list.

[milo]

Oh good guess. I meant though, the US. I am sure prisons tacitly accept it, because it is a vent for the aggression of the rapists, who otherwise might direct it at guards. But when i was in law skool, my crim and con law profs scoffed at this assertion.

[The Phantom]

The low crime rates in NYC and many (not all) US cities owe a great deal to the fact that a lot of the bad guys are where they belong-behind bars.

The war on drugs has meant that a lot of people who are not that bad are in prison along with the very bad guys--but I hope all will agree that muggers, burglars, rapists, murderers deserve to be sent away for long periods of time.

I was amused by a show on PBS last night that spoke of this "crisis" and how some "courageous" US governors were going to deal with this by releasing criminals early. None of the panelists voiced the view that there was a positive side to keeping criminals in jail.

--

Milo, for the first time, raises a good point, about prison rape. It is so common in US local, state, and federal prisons --it is indeed sanctioned.

In New York, we have this idiot mayor Bloomberg, who banned smoking in the prisons and who says that they will only serve healthy food in the jails--this little control freak has to my knowledge never said a thing about jailhouse rape that takes place every hour in his jails.

In such a controlled environment, this is a crime that could be dealt with. But no one ever addresses it. "Fuck 'em, they deserve it" is the attitude at every level of government.

Charles Colson, of Watergate fame, tried to attract interest to this issue, and he got the Congress to pass a bill to study it. When was the last time you heard about it?

So, score one for Milo. It is quietly sanctioned, and has always been.

[Robert]

The number of persons incarcerated can be problematic, however the numbers do not ditinguish between classification of crimes nor do they look at the length of sentences.

The figure reflects all prisons and jails, yet does not break this down into the different government levels. Was this increase due to felony convictions that result in long sentences? Or is the increase due to municipal prisoners who are in jail because of traffic tickets that have gone unpaid?

As an example, if a city is experiecing a decrease in tax collections and increases enforcement of traffic laws, then more tickets will result in more arrests for unpaid tickets.

I am not implying that all of these poeple are in jail for that reason, I am simply pointing out that while the number may be striking, there isn't enough data to truly understand if there is a trend or an anomoly.

And China leads the world in executions, with more than 6,000 people (the official number; the actual number is unknown) being executed in 2006. CHina has little due process. Once sentenced, a prisoner has a mere week to file and appeal for a new trail. If a new trial is given and he is convicted again, he is executed immediately.

[The Phantom]

Actually, in the week that the great William F Buckley left us, should endeavor to be extremely precise in language.

So, make that

"...It is so common in US local, state, and federal prisons --prison rape it is indeed tolerated by the authorities.../
...

So, score one for Milo. It is quietly tolerated by the authorities, and has always been. They know exactly what is going on in their jails"

[The Phantom]

Robert

I'd think that very few are in jail for traffic infractions like that ( though I know you are just making a point )

Many are in jail for low level drug crimes
( I mentioned WF Buckley just now...how many here know that he was a long time supporter of the legalization of marijuana, and that some of his reasoning was the wasteful use of our resources in its prohibition and in the otherwise harmless people who found their way into jail and a bad life path due to low level dealing or in some case usage offenses? )

I'm would support legalization of pot and perhaps a great deal of other drugs. It would have immense benefits in relief of strain to prison, police and Coast Guard resources...and would immediatly remove significant resources that serve to fund US/Latin American/other gangs and terror groups such as FARC (Colombia ) and others in the world.

[voxy]

evil is a growth industry. Of COURSE they know what's going on ... that is why they send people there. Doesn't matter if one has ever actually done anything WRONG.

[libhomo]

This is one of the reasons why Hillary Clinton should stop supporting three strikes laws.

[mudkitty]

Three strikes is arbitrary, and arbitrary is stupid.

[togolosh]

Phantom - oddly enough, Clarence Thomas has made it clear that he believes growing for personal use (though not distribution) is constitutionally protected.

On the prisons issue - as currently set up prisons are an intensive program in criminal education. Not only is there an absolute necessity to be (or at least credibly appear to be) violent in order to protect yourself, but in addition the mingling of violent and nonviolent prisoners ensures that the nonviolent ones are victimized, leading to traumatized people being released directly back into society. Prisoners spend a lot of time talking about their successful (and unsuccessful) crimes, so that traumatized nonviolent offender, who is going to have a hell of a time getting legitimate employment, enters society with a full spectrum of knowledge on how to be a more effective criminal. The temptation to put that knowledge to use must be quite large, despite the possible consequences.

[doyle Saylor]

I regard the high prison population as purely a means to suppress the anger in African Americans at their on-going poverty and social constraints. That has been fairly successful at quieting their dissent. However, this maxxing out of prisons is about at it's limits. In other words what works for a minority can't work for a majority. The obvious shift in the U.S. toward unity in the population as opposed to Jim Crow segregation means it is difficult to isolate working class dissent into ethnic sub groups. I would expect the bad economy therefore to generate a lot of chaos and anarchy that prisons can't help with. In fact prison reform seems likely to gain ground and perhaps an end to the death penalty is within sight as the neoliberals get marginalized in the culture.

We should demand the end of the present prison system. End the death penalty, end state sponsored slave labor, end shoot to kill police license.

[Azr@el]

If we, as a proud and resourceful nation, can come together and push this fraction up to roughly 5 percent then we could eliminate unemployment. Three strikes to one and a half strikes and move frappacinnos over to schedule one and we'll be half way there. Must we be forced by the liberal media to look at this as the cup half empty :)

[B-Money]

This is a good topic. My point of view has changed on prison and who should/should not be in jail/prison now that I have switched over to being a prosecutor. The amount of crime that occurs in this country on a daily basis is sickening. So the amount of people incarcerated is low in my opinion.

BUT...prisons cost money. The cost of an inmate is ridiculous. So low level offenders should not be sent to the slam for low level crimes. That being said, once jail if off the table, where is the incentive for people to obey the law? If you only levy fines, and people refuse to pay, what is the remedy? In my county, it's jail. Drive on a suspended license 4 or 5 times, jail. DUIs, jail. Batter and assualt people and you are not a first time offender, jail. Otherwise these idiots would just keep offending with no consequence. "Oh you're going to fine me? Fuck you, good luck collecting!" (Had a woman say that to me last month. Guess what, she's in jail for 30 days now for failure to pay here fines.)

So while I agree that there a lot of people in jail who may not need to be based on their crime, I truly believe that without the threat of jail, people would run amok. They already are in some areas. Jail is no longer a big deal to some people. What's one more bid to them? More street cred and rep.

So think about all that before you say there are too many people in jail. Also, try watching "Locked Up" and "Gangland" and other similar programs. That may change your perception. Or, if you have the means, tour a county jail or state or federal prison. Then post some comments.

[Lindsay Beyerstein]

Congrats on the new job, B. When did you switch over?

[B-Money]

Thanks LB! I made the switch 3 months ago today! A lifestyle choice as it were. Hence the reason for my absence from the board for a while.

[cfrost]

Jail is one thing, prison another. If some yoyo scofflaw won't pay his/her fines or repeatedly drives without a license, I have no problem putting them in the local hoosegow to think things over. Filling prisons with people who’ve been given decades long sentences for growing dope, or having struck out for the third time on a non-violent property offense however is a waste of public money, not to mention a person’s life.

Three strikes, and draconian mandatory sentencing laws remove discretion and judgment from the judges we supposedly entrust with those obligations.

Keeping geriatrics in prison serves no purpose: excepting white-collar offenses, it is the young who commit crimes, and it is the young who have the greatest recidivism rates. Feeble old farts with heart disease and prostate trouble don’t do burglaries. As I approach geezerdom myself, I’m not exactly thrilled seeing public health care money being spent on people who could just as well be let go to get in line for Medicare like the rest of us.

For those queasy about black or Latino folks in positions of power: You should remember that those minority citizens who have not lost their franchise as a result of a felony conviction may remember the statistics regarding disproportionate racial slicing of the prison population pie when they enter the voting booth.

[B-Money]

Well put cfrost.

[Dunc]

The amount of crime that occurs in this country on a daily basis is sickening.

[...]

I truly believe that without the threat of jail, people would run amok.

Except that, based your own statements just one paragraph earlier, people are running amok.

I am always reminded of the statement that "prison is a very expensive way of making bad people worse." As far as I am aware, there is no reliable evidence that the postulated "deterrence effect" of prison actually works. The USA has a unusually draconian approach to law and order for a developed nation, yet it also has unusually high crime rates. Victorian Britain had an appallingly draconian prison regime, yet it also had astronomical crime rates. I'm not aware that anybody has ever managed to show a strong correlation between the "toughness" of a country's legal system and its crime rates, never mind a causal relationship.

[Dunc]

Ah, cack... Should've closed that blockquote after "amok".

[B-Money]

Dunc, I think you are over simplyfying my statement. I think my point was clear. I stand by what I said. I disagree with your interpretation as I was making a point that this is a complex issue.