Staying aware of how many of our people are in prison

[netmouse]

In this newsletter, the Ohio criminal justice services office quotes a federal report (released in December 2008,
a Bureau of Justice Statistics bulletin, Prisoners in 2007)to note these facts:

• The total number of
  prisoners under the jurisdiction of
  Federal or State adult correctional
  authorities was 1,598,316 at the end
  of 2007. Nearly 93 percent were
  males and 7.2 percent were females.
  
  
• The rate of incarceration in prison at
  the end of 2007 was 506 sentenced
  inmates per 100,000 U.S. residents, a
  rate equivalent to about 1 in every
  198 U.S. residents serving a prison
  term of over one year.
  
  
• The incarceration rate for females in 2007
  was 69 per 100,000 population. For
  males, the incarceration rate was 955
  per 100,000 population.
  
  
• In 2007, Black males had an
  imprisonment rate of 3,138 per
  100,000 U.S. residents, compared to
  a rate of 481 for White males and
  1,259 for Hispanic or Latino males.
  
  
• Black females had an imprisonment
  rate of 150 per 100,000 U.S.
  residents, compared to a rate of 50
  per 100,000 for White females and
  79 per 100,000 for Hispanic or
  Latino females.
  
  
  
  I note that they did the math for the general rate of imprisonment, but not for males or black males especially. Note that the male population in general, we had the equivalent of roughly 1 in 105 of our men serving a year in prison in 2007, and for black men in particular that came to 1 out of 32.
  
  *shakes head*
  
  That seems pretty high to me. I have to wonder, as a society, if we can't do better than that.

Comments

[nwhyte]

Just to cheer you up, according to Wikipedia:

In absolute terms, the United States currently has the largest inmate population in the world, with more than 2½ million or more than one in a hundred adults in prison and jails. Although the United States represents less than 5% of the world's population, over 25% of the people incarcerated around the world are housed in the American prison system.

[autopope.livejournal.com]

For comparison: the UK has roughly 83,000 in prison, out of a population of 60 million -- in other words, 1 in 720, or one-seventh the US incarceration rate.

And the UK jails more people than any other country in the EU.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

Sure, all we have to do is drop the war on drugs.

I suppose it might help if we let the South secede after all, too.

[rmeidaking.livejournal.com]

How would you solve the problem?

[cos]

I'm sure you know we can do better than that.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

"That seems pretty high to me. I have to wonder, as a society, if we can't do better than that."

The problem is that, as a society, we seem not to want to.

B

[rachelann1977.livejournal.com]

Also,you have to keep in mind, ever since all the mental hospitals closed, prisons, jails and streets are the only places many of those folks have left to go...........

Minorities, homeless, and the very poor with mental disorders often go either undiagnosed or undertreated, thus often end up with little or no ability to care for themselves, so you can see how this is a self-perpetuating cycle.

I'm not saying it accounts for anywhere near the whole problem, but it may be as much as a third of it, so it shouldn't be forgotten or ignored.