U.S. Prison Population Largest In World

US prison population largest in world

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_3675352.htm

(Gold9472: What does this mean? Do we have the most criminals, or the most laws? Isn't this a contradiction to the word "Freedom"?)

www.chinaview.cn 2005-10-24 09:21:35

WASHINGTON, Oct.23 (Xinhuanet) -- The United States has the world's largest prison population and the figure is still growing, a government report said Sunday.

According to a report released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics of US Justice Department, the US prison population, already the largest in the world, grew 1.9 percent to 2,267,787 people last year.

However, the growth rate was lower than the average 3.2 percentin the last decade.

The report said the US incarceration rate, also highest among all countries, hit 486 sentenced inmates per 100,000 last year, up 18 percent from 411 a decade ago.

The five states with the highest incarceration rates in 2004 were all from the South, led by Louisiana with 816 sentenced prisoners per 100,000 residents.

Meanwhile, the five states with the lowest rates were all from the North, with Maine experiencing 148 sentenced inmates per 100,000 residents.

Paige Harrison, coauthor of the report, attributed some of the prison population rise to tougher sentencing policies implemented in the late 1990s.

She said the average time served by prisoners today is seven months longer than it was in 1995.

"You bring more people in, you keep them longer......inevitablyyou're going to have growth," she said.

The Justice Policy Institute, a legal thinktank, said the statistics show little relationship between prison population growth and the crime rate, which has been falling in recent years.

An earlier government report said the US violent crimes during 2004 were at the lowest level in over three decades.

Given the ever-expanding prison population, US legal experts urged policy-makers to reconsider current sentencing policies, in order to avoid expensive incarceration costs and to invest in moreproductive prevention and treatment approaches to crime.

We have the most criminals. One of the biggest problems in this country is lack of paranting skills and discipline, which in turn leads to gangs, violence, ect...

I think we have the most laws. When i was about 18 (33 now) i came up with a good rule of thumb for living in the land of the free: If in doubt, its illegal.

That rule has NEVER failed me. This idea of 'freedom and opportunity' is history's largest propoganda coup. The US corporate government has actually been able to convince its citizens that what is good for the finances of the aristocracy, is good for the average joe.

By the way, do you know that in the US you can get less time in jail for raping a child then you can for getting caught with pot in a non-violent arrest?

That is a perfect example - marijuana is illegal because its industrial cousin Hemp is financial threat to the status quo of petrochemical textiles.