Oregon Department of Corrections

He's got a lot of company.

Featured Topic | Posted 2 years 26 weeks ago

One of every 100 Americans is in prison

For the first time in history, more than one in every 100 American adults is in jail or prison, according to a report released Thursday. the 50 states spent more than $49 billion on corrections last year, up from less than $11 billion 20 years earlier. The rate of increase for prison costs was six times greater than for higher education spending, the report said.

Why are so many Americans in prison? What can be done about it?

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Ben likes: The prison buildup decreased crime

David B. Muhlhausen, Ph.D./Heritage Foundation

Professor William Spelman of the University of Texas at Austin estimates that the drop in crime during the 1990s would have been 27 to 34 percent smaller without the prison buildup. In another study, Professor Spelman analyzed the impact of incarceration in Texas counties from 1990 to 2000. The most significant factor responsible for the drop in crime in Texas was the state's prison expansion.

And now the prison buildup may be partially responsible for the recent increase in crime. Just as putting criminals behind bars decreases crime, releasing criminals back into society increases crime.

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Joel likes:Barred from society

Kate Sheppard/The American Prospect

But far more shocking in that report were the stats on racial disparities in our prison system. The study, conducted by the Pew Center on the States, found that one in 15 black adults is in jail. Among young black men between the ages of 20 and 34, the number in prison reaches a rate of one in nine. This dovetails interestingly with another report released this week by the Eisenhower Foundation, which found that black Americans are still significantly disadvantaged in terms of income, education and other measures of well-being.

States spend an average of $23,876 a year to keep someone in jail, and not much of which is used to curb recidivism rates. Wouldn't that money be better spent on programs that address these continuing societal disparities and give young black men and women better opportunities?

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Thoughts

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The system does not work

Submitted on February 29th, 2008 by dbassd

We need tougher laws, and more sensible ones. The system , as it is today, is just a babysitting service. Rehabilitate anyone? Ha ha hah. . .

The law should be tough enough that you would never dare cross that line, for any reason.
Even the smallest infraction must be meted out with the severest form of punishment, like if you go in, you do not come out. . .
That would make you think twice. . .
The revolving door policy does not work effectively.
The life of crime should be a one way street. . .

Prison numbers and cost

Submitted on February 28th, 2008 by jeyuhas

My idea for cutting prison cost and deterence to crime. I spent more than a year, 2 different times, 1980 and 1989 in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. With fog so thick, wind a constant 40-100 knots, and snow that comes down sideways, the only way off any of over 100 Islands in the Aleutians is by plane. And believe me they cannot land and takeoff anytime they want because of the fiercely unpredictabe climate. Build a Federal prison system, ship them up there, and the return to jail rate would be zero. You wouldn't even need walls. Let them dig their oen foxhole put a quanset hut on it and start counting the days. In the word of Carl Sagen "BILLIONS and BILLIONS" of dollars would be saved by not having to support over 50 state prisons.

Re: Statistics Can Lie

Submitted on February 28th, 2008 by KansasGirl

Sure - you can find numbers to support whatever you want. But in this case, the side exploiting the statistics are those who want to politicize the illegal immigration issue. In fact, the numbers have shown for years, and continue to show, that illegal aliens are not the biggest burden on our prison system. I know it would be nice to believe that the staggering crime rates in our cities aren't due to the average American citizen, but it's just not true. Check out this article from the Mercury News:
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8366477

Statistics Can Lie

Submitted on February 28th, 2008 by Denise

It is assumed by this report that every person in an American prison is an American. That's ridiculous. If you want accurate statistics about AMERICANS, then leave out the thousands of illegal aliens currently incarcerated, and the true figures will be much less startling.

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