More than 1% of U.S. population behind bars

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Record-High Ratio of Americans in Prison


By N.C. Aizenman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 28, 2008; 11:57 AM

More than one in 100 adults Americans is in jail or prison, an all-time high that is costing state governments nearly $50 billion a year, in addition to more than $5 billion spent by the federal government, according to a report released today.

With more than 2.3 million people behind bars at the start of 2008, the United States leads the world in both the number and the percentage of residents it incarcerates, leaving even far more populous China a distant second, noted the report by the nonpartisan Pew Center on the States.

The ballooning prison population is largely the result of tougher state and federal sentencing imposed since the mid-1980s. Minorities have been hit particularly hard: One in nine black men age 20 to 34 is behind bars. For black women age 35 to 39, the figure is one in 100, compared with one in 355 white women in the same age group.

While studies generally find that imprisoning more offenders reduces crime, the effect is influenced by changes in the unemployment rate, wages, the ratio of police officers to residents, and the share of young people in the population.

In addition, when it comes to preventing repeat offenses by nonviolent criminals -- who make up about half of the incarcerated population -- alternative punishments such as community supervision and mandatory drug counseling that are far less expensive may prove just as or more effective than jail time.

Florida, which nearly doubled its prison population over the past 15 years, has experienced a smaller drop in crime than New York, which, after a brief increase, reduced its number of inmates to below the 1993 level.

"There is no question that putting violent and chronic offenders behind bars lowers the crime rate and provides punishment that is well deserved," said Adam Gelb, director of the Pew Center's Public Safety Performance Project and one of the study's authors. "On the other hand, there are large numbers of people behind bars who could be supervised in the community safely and effectively at a much lower cost -- while also paying taxes, paying restitution to their victims, and paying child support."

About 91 percent of incarcerated adults are under state or local jurisdiction, and the report documents the tradeoffs state governments have faced as they have devoted ever larger shares of their budgets to house them. For instance, over the past two decades, state spending on corrections (adjusted for inflation) increased by 127 percent, while spending on higher education rose by 21 percent. For every dollar Virginia spends on higher education, it now spends about 60 cents on corrections. Maryland spends 74 cents on corrections per higher-education dollar.

Despite reaching its latest milestone, the nation's incarcerated population has actually been growing far more slowly since 2000 than during the 1990s, when the spate of harsher sentencing laws began to take effect. These included a 1986 federal law mandating prison terms for crack cocaine offenses that were up to eight times as long as for those involving powder cocaine. In the early 1990s, states across the nation adopted "three-strikes-you're-out" laws and curtailed the discretion parole boards have in deciding when to release an inmate. As a result, between 1990 and 2000, the prison population swelled by about 80 percent, increasing by as much as 86,000 per year.

By contrast, from 2007 to 2008, the prison population increased by 25,000 -- a 2 percent rise. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has issued decisions giving judges more leeway under mandatory sentencing laws, and a number of states, including Texas, are seeking to reduce their incarcerated population by adopting alternative punishments.

"Some of these [measures] would have been unthinkable five years ago," noted Gelb. "But the bottom line is that states have to balance their budgets."

[shrugs]

Many jails delay release times until after midnight even when a person was bonded out much earlier in the day.
This allows them to collect more money due to a higher inmate count at the start of the day.

[Hudson Boy]

Eliminate most of the drug laws, and the number of prisoners would be reduced substantially.

There's just so many stupid things that the cops have to waste their time on. The NYPD just conducted a sweep of Chinatown, arresting those that are involved in counterfeiting. Not counterfeit money, only phony designer items that are sold in the streets to tourists. Mayor Bloomberg held a press conference to bring home the importance of stopping this menace. They do this at least once a year.

[Uli]

Originally Posted by tippy

They've got the wrong 1%.

yep, mostly.

[Darryl G. Thomas]

Nah, some of them cats need to be there. Remember that Richard Pryor line, "Thank God there's penitentiaries"?

But yeah, it's the drug laws. Legalize drugs, tax it.

[groover]

Yes, Darryl, I don't think Tippy really wants Charles Manson to be her neighbor.

[shrugs]

Originally Posted by Hudson Boy

Eliminate most of the drug laws, and the number of prisoners would be reduced substantially.

There's just so many stupid things that the cops have to waste their time on. The NYPD just conducted a sweep of Chinatown, arresting those that are involved in counterfeiting. Not counterfeit money, only phony designer items that are sold in the streets to tourists. Mayor Bloomberg held a press conference to bring home the importance of stopping this menace. They do this at least once a year.

Diversion programs are utilized in a lot of drug arrests, but one must usually have to have a good lawyer.

Is it true that the government sells the printers they seize from counterfeiters?
A rerun of CSI(ok, I couldn't sleep), mentioned that.
I guess the printers are special and bring a lot of money on the resale market.
But who is gonna buy these printers?
I guess it allows some tracing but there are ways around anything so...

[Hudson Boy]

The laughing Manson Girls: Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Leslie Van Houten

At least Charlie wasn't smiling.

[Jesse]

FTW

[Scott Dolan]

Having been there let me fully assure everyone here that for the most part they do indeed have the right 1%.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Originally Posted by Hudson Boy

The laughing Manson Girls

A day or two before they all carved Xs into their foreheads.

[Scott Dolan]

Unless my eyes deceive me, it looks like they already had.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

I think you have a better screen resolution than me, Scottie.

[Dr Dave]

I don't know nothin' about prison, except I'm pretty sure I don't ever want to go there. Wonky old white guy like me wouldn't last long, I don't think. Kinda mind-blowing, though, to think one out of every hundred...

[GoodSpeak]

Originally Posted by groover

Yes, Darryl, I don't think Tippy really wants Charles Manson to be her neighbor.

He would be my neighbor, Groover.


Corcoran Prison is 40 or so miles from my house.



The San Joaquin Valley is the prison capital of California....fucking republican asswipes.

[GoodSpeak]

Originally Posted by tippy

They've got the wrong 1%.

No doubt.

The Three Strikes Law in California put a lot of guys away for life for stealing a car or weedwhackers. No shit.

[GoodSpeak]

There are others with similar laws....or a lust for blood like Tex-ass.

[Scott Dolan]

Most states have adopted similar rules. Florida did many years ago.

[Gary Sisco]

More prisoners in the population than people who've worn a uniform, ever.

[Gordon B]

Originally Posted by GoodSpeak

No doubt.

The Three Strikes Law in California put a lot of guys away for life for stealing a car or weedwhackers. No shit.

Wouldn't stealing a car be one strike?

People are really in life for stealing weedwhackers? Is this with or without parole?

[Jon Abbey]

Google's first hit for "california stealing weedwhackers" is this thread.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Originally Posted by Gordon B

People are really in life for stealing weedwhackers?

>>During the reign of Three Strikes, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's office has been notorious for zealous enforcement of the measure. "Santa Clara isn't what we call the most enlightened county. I try to avoid doing three-strike cases there," said (Tom) Kelley, who practices in both Santa Clara and San Mateo courts. "I had one case in Santa Clara where a guy was accused of breaking a window and trying to steal a weed whacker. He was found guilty and now faces 25 to life."<<

http://www.metroactive.com/papers/me...ikes-9626.html

[Gordon B]

The three strikes law has a negative ramification seldom discussed. I read it in an article written by an economist. Suppose you are a two-strike felon in a state where the third strike is life without parole. If you commit a robbery where the victims could be witnesses against you, why not kill them? If the punishment is life-without-parole either way if caught, you'll want to minimize your chances of being caught.
If you are in a state that doesn't have three strikes, you are less likely to kill potential witnesses because the punishment if caught is much, much harsher if it's accompanied by murder.

[Gary Sisco]

There are an extraordinary number of people doing time for non-violent, simple possession of marijuana, also. Six digits' worth. Absolute madness.