kband: bluprnt 4 rvolution

There's a pretty good chance you're reading this from jail

There were 2,131,180 United States citizens in jail last year.
An increase of 2.3 percent over 2003.

The US has incarcerated 726 people per 100,000 of its population 7 to 10 times as many as most other democracies.
That's 7 people in jail for every 1,000 in the country.

12.6% of black males in their late twenties were behind bars! Insane.

The comparable rate for Hispanic males was 3.6% and for whites 1.7%

Even though violent crime in the US fell by over 33% from 1994 to 2003
and property crimes fell by 23%.

Yet the prison population has risen at an averate of 3.5% every year since 1995

Why? Because 2 of every 3 prisoners are back behind bars within 3 years of their release.

Which means JAIL DOES NOT WORK. The system is fucked. Non-violent drug offenders should not be in jail.

Plus it costs around $22,000 to lock up one person for a year.

Reuters Article.

Posted by bluprnt at April 26, 2005 06:07 PM