1 in 136 U.S. Residents Behind Bars...

[insein]

Is this disturbing to anyone other than me?

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/05/21/D8HODD7G0.html

1 in 136 U.S. Residents Behind Bars
May 21 5:06 PM US/Eastern
Email this story

By ELIZABETH WHITE
Associated Press Writer


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 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.

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 blacks 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.

 

[jillian]

Very troubling. They should de-criminalize drugs, let the government sell and tax them. Get's rid of all of the incentive for gang violence because there is no reason to "defend" drug turf anymore. Then people will stop whining about guns, too....

Time to come out of the dark ages and use prisons for real criminals like they should be.

 

[dmp]

re: in-jail awaing trial...those are ppl who can't or won't make bail, or those charged with very bad crimes. Nothing too exciting IMO.

 

[dilloduck]

Very troubling. They should de-criminalize drugs, let the government sell and tax them. Get's rid of all of the incentive for gang violence because there is no reason to "defend" drug turf anymore. Then people will stop whining about guns, too....

Time to come out of the dark ages and use prisons for real criminals like they should be.

Agreed--once all drugs are legal, all the drug criminals will become law abiding citizens .

 

[jillian]

Agreed--once all drugs are legal, all the drug criminals will become law abiding citizens .

Heh! You know what it is....I don't see any real difference between someone being drunk and someone being high. Now...if someone is driving drunk or high...whole other subject.

I just think stuff like the Rockefeller Drug laws is really goofy. :2guns:

 

[jillian]

Is that just the first idle thought to flit across your mind?I can't believe you thought about it for any length of time. :huh:

lol...yeah...never gave it any thought before. :funnyface

Drugs are bad.Anyhoo it's my job to play devils advocate on this board.

:halo:

 

[dilloduck]

Heh! You know what it is....I don't see any real difference between someone being drunk and someone being high. Now...if someone is driving drunk or high...whole other subject.

I just think stuff like the Rockefeller Drug laws is really goofy. :2guns:

Goofy laws???? noooooooooooo not in America !!!!!

 

[jillian]

Goofy laws???? noooooooooooo not in America !!!!!

:rotflmao:

 

[Avatar4321]

Very troubling. They should de-criminalize drugs, let the government sell and tax them. Get's rid of all of the incentive for gang violence because there is no reason to "defend" drug turf anymore. Then people will stop whining about guns, too....

Time to come out of the dark ages and use prisons for real criminals like they should be.

while were at it lets just repeal all laws. that way there are no criminals and we dont need any jails. problem solved.

We can let the government regulate theft. Create an association of thieves, let them steal a certain quota each month. Tax them for a percentage of what they take and penalize the association if they take more than they are allotted. that way they self police themselves. And they can rotate members in and out of the jail system to pay for their crimes.

We can do the same with murder. We can legalize a group of assasins. Give them a quota of the maximum number of murders they can preform, and let them higher themselves out. Then the government makes money off it in taxes and we have control over who can be killed or not.

btw if you cant tell im being sarcastic.

 

[Avatar4321]

Heh! You know what it is....I don't see any real difference between someone being drunk and someone being high. Now...if someone is driving drunk or high...whole other subject.

I just think stuff like the Rockefeller Drug laws is really goofy. :2guns:

I dont either. Which is why im in favor of prohibition:

 

[jillian]

while were at it lets just repeal all laws. that way there are no criminals and we dont need any jails. problem solved.

We can let the government regulate theft. Create an association of thieves, let them steal a certain quota each month. Tax them for a percentage of what they take and penalize the association if they take more than they are allotted. that way they self police themselves. And they can rotate members in and out of the jail system to pay for their crimes.

We can do the same with murder. We can legalize a group of assasins. Give them a quota of the maximum number of murders they can preform, and let them higher themselves out. Then the government makes money off it in taxes and we have control over who can be killed or not.

btw if you cant tell im being sarcastic.

Oh, I know you're being sarcastic. I can think of lots better ways of spending our money than locking up potheads.

 

[manu1959]

in LA if your sentence is 90 days or less you don't go to jail ..... they set you free .... seems to be working out well for them ..... personally i think jail discriminates against people that break the law and that is just not right

 

[insein]

Im merely stating that with every new year we have an increased number of laws that require jail time for punishment. Anywhere from not paying child support to disorderly conduct to not paying traffic tickets. Are these truely crimes worthy of jail time or are they criminals by the fact that we keep letting politicians create new laws that tell people what to do for no good to the public?

The prison system in America is a VERY big problem. We have too many people that committ minor crimes becoming career criminals (moving in and out of jail for crimes such as marijuana possession etc). Thats costing us, the taxpayer, way too much money to be housing these individuals for any length of time. Jail should be for the criminals who are a danger to society. Murderers, rapists, politicians , capital thieves, kidnappers etc. Drug addicts don't need prison. They need help or at the least to be left alone. As long as they arent harming others, then they shouldnt be considered a criminal and waste our money on jail time.

 

[BaronVonBigmeat]

We totally could have won the war on alcohol, if only we hadn't cut and run.

God help us if we even legalize drugs. Our cities will be turned into post-apocalyptic ruins, like Amsterdam. Or uhh...most american cities before WWI.

 

[Diuretic]

We totally could have won the war on alcohol, if only we hadn't cut and run.

God help us if we even legalize drugs. Our cities will be turned into post-apocalyptic ruins, like Amsterdam. Or uhh...most american cities before WWI.

You're right Baron. In policy terms it's too late for the US to adopt sensible drug laws. There's only one choice, to keep fighting "the war on drugs." Besides, think of the unemployment in the various federal bureaucracies that are involved in "the war on drugs". It would be atrocious. All those people wandering around DC, their suits reduced to rags, holding out their little cups for some spare change. No more DEA - hey at least they could sell the black helicopters on ebay if they got in quick, before the auditors I mean. On the other hand perhaps the DEA people could be transferred to ATF and the government could have "the war on alcohol"!

 

[jillian]

Im merely stating that with every new year we have an increased number of laws that require jail time for punishment. Anywhere from not paying child support to disorderly conduct to not paying traffic tickets. Are these truely crimes worthy of jail time or are they criminals by the fact that we keep letting politicians create new laws that tell people what to do for no good to the public?

The prison system in America is a VERY big problem. We have too many people that committ minor crimes becoming career criminals (moving in and out of jail for crimes such as marijuana possession etc). Thats costing us, the taxpayer, way too much money to be housing these individuals for any length of time. Jail should be for the criminals who are a danger to society. Murderers, rapists, politicians , capital thieves, kidnappers etc. Drug addicts don't need prison. They need help or at the least to be left alone. As long as they arent harming others, then they shouldnt be considered a criminal and waste our money on jail time.

Yup...yup...and yup!

 

[Emmett]

You already know what I am going to write.

We have a prison problem. 200,000 non violent drug offenders in prison while 75,000 child molesters are on parole or probation and half of them aren't registered as required. Come on folks, that IS A problem. The idea of someone serving only 11 years on a murder charge because of overcrowding sickens me. All of this is due to the fact that we are putting the wrong folks in a limited system.

I am not advocating legalizing all drugs. I am saying that you srart with the worst first. Look at the emphasis on the pedophiles and so forth this year. Treatment my ass, they do not need treatment. If you are going to use my tax money to purchase treatment I would rather you buy it for a drug offender than a weirdo.

We can't just keep building prisons. We need to attack these problems at the core. I have wrote this stuff before but I get into this issue.

Ride down a US Hwy in a rural area and check out the little league fields. They have ivy growing on the backstops. The kids are at jome with no parents playing Killem Eatem or whatever on Sony Playstation. Violence in children contributes to prison population. The problem is when they get older they don't realize until after they commit that act of violence to be cool or whatever that there is no reset button on life.

I know guys who have time to play golf twice a week but can't tell you their sons team name at school. Ask them the grades of their kids last report card and they are just as stumped. The problems are not as they seem. Sometimes you have to lift the ink to read what is really on the paper.

Legalizing Drugs is not the answer in whole but tending to priorities is important. There should not be one single non violent offender in a federal prison so long as there is a child molestor on the street who has served less than 25 years for their offense. PERIOD!

Bank Robbers should forfeit a generation of their life. Lets get real on the prison issue.I know a way to solve the damn immigration problem with some of those damn criminals too. Let them work the fields that our immigrants MUST work and earn a minimum amount of money to help support their families so we do not have to.

Where is the logical thinking on this planet?

 

[insein]

You already know what I am going to write.

We have a prison problem. 200,000 non violent drug offenders in prison while 75,000 child molesters are on parole or probation and half of them aren't registered as required. Come on folks, that IS A problem. The idea of someone serving only 11 years on a murder charge because of overcrowding sickens me. All of this is due to the fact that we are putting the wrong folks in a limited system.

I am not advocating legalizing all drugs. I am saying that you srart with the worst first. Look at the emphasis on the pedophiles and so forth this year. Treatment my ass, they do not need treatment. If you are going to use my tax money to purchase treatment I would rather you buy it for a drug offender than a weirdo.

We can't just keep building prisons. We need to attack these problems at the core. I have wrote this stuff before but I get into this issue.

Ride down a US Hwy in a rural area and check out the little league fields. They have ivy growing on the backstops. The kids are at jome with no parents playing Killem Eatem or whatever on Sony Playstation. Violence in children contributes to prison population. The problem is when they get older they don't realize until after they commit that act of violence to be cool or whatever that there is no reset button on life.

I know guys who have time to play golf twice a week but can't tell you their sons team name at school. Ask them the grades of their kids last report card and they are just as stumped. The problems are not as they seem. Sometimes you have to lift the ink to read what is really on the paper.

Legalizing Drugs is not the answer in whole but tending to priorities is important. There should not be one single non violent offender in a federal prison so long as there is a child molestor on the street who has served less than 25 years for their offense. PERIOD!

Bank Robbers should forfeit a generation of their life. Lets get real on the prison issue.I know a way to solve the damn immigration problem with some of those damn criminals too. Let them work the fields that our immigrants MUST work and earn a minimum amount of money to help support their families so we do not have to.

Where is the logical thinking on this planet?

Agree with everything except the video game violence.

Child predators should be imprisoned for a minimum of 25 years for a crime involving a child of 12 years or younger where sex is involved. The fact that these people get probabtion and treatment while pot-smokers get 5-10 mandatory in general population illustrates just how fucked up the system is.

 

[5stringJeff]

How to win the war on drugs:

1. Legalize pot. It's less harmful than tobacco and alcohol (though certainly not harmless).

2. Ticket/fine drug users. Really, honestly, what good does it do to lock up your average druggie?

3. Lock up drug dealers. 10 year minimum. Better yet, shoot them on site.

 

[Diuretic]

How to win the war on drugs:

1. Legalize pot. It's less harmful than tobacco and alcohol (though certainly not harmless).

2. Ticket/fine drug users. Really, honestly, what good does it do to lock up your average druggie?

3. Lock up drug dealers. 10 year minimum. Better yet, shoot them on site.

It's not legal in my jurisdiction but it has been decriminalised for many years. Unfortunately the fact of decriminlisation is a bit of a political football and the amount allowed before it becomes a criminal offence (personal use only) and the number of plants allowed to be grown for personal use before it becomes a criminal offence changes with changes in government. But it's still decriminalised at the personal use level. And our world has not collapsed.

Users/possessors/personal growers get an infringement notice for a small monetary amount (they can still contest it in court if they wish). First time "offenders" are cautioned and sent to an educational programme. Users who are pinched several times may be sent on a rehab programme.

Drug dealers get the can whatever it is they're dealing. They only got get shot if they shoot first.