Skeptomania - Paranormal / UFOs, etc.

GSpoon

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23392251

just a few points from it

Using state-by-state data, the report says 2,319,258 Americans were in jail or prison at the start of 2008 — one out of every 99.1 adults.

The report, released Thursday by the Pew Center on the States, said 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 largest percentage increase — 12 percent — was in Kentucky, where Gov. Steve Beshear highlighted the cost of corrections in his budget speech last month. He noted that the state’s crime rate had increased only about 3 percent in the past 30 years, while the state’s inmate population has increased by 600 percent.

California — which faces a $16 billion budget shortfall — spent $8.8 billion on corrections last year, while Texas, which has slightly more inmates, was a distant second with spending of $3.3 billion.

the average annual cost per prisoner was $23,876, with Rhode Island spending the most ($44,860) and Louisiana the least ($13,009).

Four states — Vermont, Michigan, Oregon and Connecticut — now spend more on corrections than they do on higher education, the report said.

On average, states spend 6.8 percent of their general fund dollars on corrections, the report said. Oregon had the highest spending rate, at 10.9 percent; Alabama the lowest at 2.6 percent.

While one in 30 men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars, for black males in that age group the figure is one in nine.”

The racial disparity for women also is stark. One of every 355 white women aged 35 to 39 is behind bars, compared with one of every 100 black women in that age group

The report said the United States incarcerates more people than any other nation, far ahead of more populous China with 1.5 million people behind bars. It said the U.S. also is the leader in inmates per capita (750 per 100,000 people), ahead of Russia (628 per 100,000) and other former Soviet bloc nations which round out the Top 10.

Anonymouse · Living impaired

Skepticism about statistics aside, this is a little eye-opening.

"He noted that the state’s crime rate had increased only about 3 percent in the past 30 years, while the state’s inmate population has increased by 600 percent. "

Does this mean that they're enforcing their laws more thoroughly?

It's only tangentially related, but in an Upton Sinclair novel Ford (and other businessmen of hte time) used a large list of possible infractions that penalized almost every worker one way or another. This made firing anyone pretty easy. I'm being paranoid and totally (mostly?) baseless, but I can't help but wonder if the government does the same.

Yaish · Intel Chief

We have legislators who make a full time job out of passing laws. More laws equals more criminals. No other way around it.

GSpoon

a lot of this trend can be traced back to the 80's and the use of mandatory sentances for drug offenders, even nonviolent ones.

that is how you end up with more people in prison when you state has not had a large jump in crime (a 600% increase of people with only a 3% increase in crime)

it hasnt been that long since the average sentance for rape was less than 5 years, the average sentance for murder was less than 7 years, but there were people doing 10 years for LSD possesion

Gren · God Of Oreos

Patrol officers have a saying 'you may outrun my car, but not my radio'.

I suspect the widespread use of computer databases and the way they link formerly enisled criminal jurisdictions has had a lot to do with it. In other words, perhaps the police are better at catching crooks and at providing sufficient evidence.

Another tech advance that probably applies is the increasing use of security cams.

Anonymouse · Living impaired

And the proliferation of DNA analysis?

Gren · God Of Oreos

Exactly, nice catch. Improved CSI across the board over the last 10-20 years.

Anon, I thought you were the punmaster? Slipping down on the job. I'll cover it:

I guess we could say the police are..... [drumroll]... binding them with science.

Anonymouse · Living impaired

Enjoying puns and being good with them are different things. Neutral

TheMadHobbit · Subway Tolkien

I have a solution to alleviate some of the problem....

LEGALIZE IT!

GSpoon

exactly hobs

the biggest increase in the prison population is nonviolent drug offenses, not crimes needing DNA evidence

More than half (55%) of federal prisoners are serving time for a drug offense, and 13% for aviolent offense

More than half (55.7%) of persons sentenced for a drug offense in 2002 fell into the lowestcriminal history category (Category 1) of the sentencing guidelines, and in 87% of cases noweapon was involved.

Nearly three-fourths (72.1%) of the population are non-violent offenders with no history ofviolence

Federal prisons were estimated to hold 176,268 sentenced inmates as of Sept. 30, 2006. Of these, 16,507 were incarcerated for violent offenses, including 2,923 for homicide, 9,645 for robbery, and 3,939 for other violent crimes. In addition, 10,015 inmates were serving time for property crimes, including 519 for burglary, 6,437 for fraud, and 3,059 for other property offenses. A total of 93,751 were incarcerated for drug offenses. Also, 54,336 were incarcerated for public-order offenses, incluging 19,496 for immigration offenses and 24,298 for weapons offenses.

State prisons held a total of 1,274,600 inmates on all charges at yearend 2004. In absolute numbers an estimated 633,700 inmates in State prison at yearend 2004 (the latest year for which offense data is available) were held for violent offenses: 151,500 for murder, 178,900 for robbery, 129,400 for assault, and 153,800 for rape and other sexual assaults. In addition, 265,600 inmates were held for property offenses, 249,400 for drug offenses, and 88,900 for public-order offenses.

The U.S. nonviolent prisoner population is larger than the combined populations of Wyoming and Alaska.

Average Federal Sentence
Offense Mean Median
All Offenses 56.8 months 33.0 months
All Felonies 58.0 months 36.0 months
Violent Felonies 63.0 months
Drug Felonies 75.6 months 55.0 months
Property Felony - Fraud 22.5 months 14.0 months
Property Felony - Other 33.4 months 18.0 months
Public Order Felony - Regulatory 28.0 months 15.0 months
Public Order Felony - Other 46.5 months 30.0 months
Misdemeanors 10.3 months 6.0 months

Since the enactment of mandatory minimum sentencing for drug users, the Federal Bureau of Prisons budget has increased by 1,954%. Its budget jumped from $220 million in 1986 to more than $4.3 billion in 2001.

TheMadHobbit · Subway Tolkien

GSpoon

look at the DARE program

if was a failure from the start

study after study showed that it did not work and time after time DARE officals tired to burry the reports. When their own reports showed that the program did not work they simply dismissed the council that was investigating it.

by 2001 it had a budget of over one billion dollars.

chefkathleen

I knew a guy that would go to his step daughters dare meetings with her after tokin up. He thought it was funny

Gren · God Of Oreos

It's good to note that being in prison on a non-violent charge doesn't mean one is non-violent. A goodly number of people currently in prison on a non-violent charge have plenty of violent crime convictions on their records. Others commit violent crimes but haven't yet been convicted of one. Tax evasion is a non-violent crime - the crime Al Capone went to prison for.

I could go for releasing more inmates whose entire record is for non-violent crimes.

GSpoon

which goes back to the statistic for federal prisons that I had already posted