There are 1.6 millions adults in American prisons, plus 723,000 in local jails says the latest Pew Report. (http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/One%20in%20100.pdf).
The report points out that ethnicity and gender seem to play a role with 1 in 36 Hispanic male is behind barres, while 1 in 15 African American male is in that same situation, and a choking 1 in 9 black men between the ages of 20 and 34. As for women: 1 in 355 white women between the ages of 35 and 39 is behind bars, compared with 1 in 100 black women.
We could hope that with that many people incarcerated the country's public safety would be better? But it is not, according to Susan Urahn, managing director of the Pew Center, instead she says "We tend to be a country in which incarceration is an easy response to crime".
The problem is that it is the only answer, and that it should discriminate between the type of offenses, there should not be " 5,500 D.W.I offenders in prison" and other non violent offenders should be on parole doing community work for example. Something productive or educational, isn't it a correctional facility after all.
"The United States imprisons more people than any other nation in the world. China is second, with 1.5 million people behind bars."
(Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/us/29prison.html?ref=todayspaper)
1 comment:
China has so many people behind bars because of its population size. As for the US, one wonders why the rate is so high on a per capita basis. Is it that more crimes are committed? That there are more laws? Better enforcement? More honest reporting? Perhaps the high rate shows that the system does catch people who commit crimes and punishes them - it could be perceived positively.
Post a Comment