[Peace-discuss] Fw: [gangboxnews] Fwd: THE NATION OF INCARCERATION - America has 2.3 million people in jail - more than any other country in the world

[unionyes]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: GREGORYABUTLER at aol.com 
To: gangboxnews at yahoogroups.com ; gangbox at googlegroups.com ; clnews at lists.clnews.org 
Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 7:40 PM
Subject: [gangboxnews] Fwd: THE NATION OF INCARCERATION - America has 2.3 million people in jail - more than any other country in the world


from the WORLD SOCIALIST WEB SITE:


7.3 million in the US prison system
By Kate Randall 
4 March 2009
A study released this week by the Pew Center on the States delivers a staggering statistic: 7.3 million Americans-or 1 in every 31 adults-are in the nation's prison system. This figure includes those in US jails and prisons, on parole, on probation, or under other forms of correctional supervision.
No other country comes close to matching this number. If these individuals were grouped together, they would number more than the entire populations of Israel or Honduras, or all of the residents of Washington state.
The new study "One in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections," follows a study by the Pew Center last year that found the US leading the world in the rate at which it puts its people behind bars: 1 in 100, or 2.3 million people.
The last quarter-century has seen an explosion in the number of Americans incarcerated, growing by 274 percent. During this same period, those under "community supervision"-the term used by Pew to designate those on parole, probation or other prison supervision-also rose dramatically, from approximately 1.6 million in 1982, to 5.1 million in 2007.
Leading the states is Georgia, where 1 in every 13 adults-7.92 percent of the state's adult population-is imprisoned or under supervision. Idaho is next (1 in 18, 5.71 percent), followed by the nation's capital, Washington, DC (1 in 21, or 4.82 percent).
The 10 states with the highest numbers of people under "correctional control" include three Southern states-Louisiana, Georgia and Texas-which also have the highest prison rates. Also included in the top 10 are two New England states, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, as well as Ohio, Indiana and Minnesota in the Midwest.
African-American adults are four times as likely as whites, and 2.5 times more likely as Hispanics, to be under some form of prison control. One in 11 black adults-or 9.2 percent-was under correctional supervision at the end of 2007. In the population as a whole, men were five times more likely than women to be under correctional control, although the rate for women continues to rise.
Records amounts are being spent to incarcerate and monitor the prison population. In fiscal year 2008, US states are estimated to have spent more than $52 billion, a more than 300 percent increase over 1988 spending.
State s pending on prisons and supervision has grown at a faster rate than the budget increases for nearly all other government services, with only Medicaid spending growing at a faster rate. The corrections budget growth rate has outpaced spending increases for elementary and secondary education, higher education and welfare.
These outlays come as states struggle with massive budget deficits. California, with a $42 billion budget deficit, spent $9.657 billion on its prison system in fiscal year 2008-9.3 percent of the state's general fund. The state government has proposed $15 billion in spending cuts for schools, health care and the poor.
Kentucky has the fastest growing prison population in the country, jumping by 50 percent over the past eight years to more than 22,000 inmates. At this rate of growth, the incarcerated population could grow to 31,000 over the next decade. Kentucky spent $521 million on corrections in fiscal year 2008. The state is projecting a $1.3 billion state budget deficit over the next 18 months.
The Pew Center on the States study argues that it would be more "fiscally responsible" for states to spend less money on prisons and jails and more on parole, probation, and community prison programs.
In so doing, it avoids any comment on the link between the growth of poverty and social inequality in the US and the dramatic rise in the numbers of those behind bars and under prison supervision. Data gathered by the study, however, irrefutably demonstrate this connection.
In Michigan, 1 in 27 people are in the state's prison, slightly higher than the national average. But as the study notes, "statewide averages hide extreme geographic concentrations."
Michigan's fiscal year 2008 prison budget totaled $2.178 billion. In Wayne County (southeast Michigan), 1 in 38 adults are under prison control at a cost of more than $500 million. In Detroit, home to 44 percent of Wayne County's adults, 1 in 25 are under correctional control. Nearly $400 million in state funds is spent on corrections in Detroit, about 18 percent of the annual state prison budget.
Once a thriving center of auto production, Detroit had one of the highest rates of home ownership in the nation. Now, an estimated one in three Detroiters lives in poverty, making it the poorest large city in America. In many neighborhoods, occupied houses stand side by side with vacant lots and burnt-out, abandoned homes.
As of last August, half of all the city's children lived in families with incomes below the official poverty line-an estimated $21,027 for a family of four with two children. The adu lt literacy rate is less than 50 percent and half of all high school students do not graduate.
In one neighborhood on Detroit's East Side, 1 in 7 adult males is either 
behind bars or under community supervision. 
On Detroit's East Side, 1 in 22 adults are under prison control. In one near East Side Detroit neighborhood, referred to in the study as Brewer Park, 1 in 16 adults-and 1 in 7 adult males-is either behind bars or under supervision. In 2008, Michigan spent close to $3 million on the imprisonment, parole and supervision of residents in this one set of blocks alone.
In neighborhoods such as this, residents, particularly the young, are doubly punished for the conditions of poverty thrust upon them. More and more people are locked up, and social problems are treated as police matters.
The author also recommends:
US leads world in imprisoning its people: More than one in 100 adults behind bars
[4 March 2009]


US leads world in imprisoning its people
More than one in 100 adults behind bars
By Kate Randall
29 February 2008
In both raw figures and as a percentage of the population, the US is the world leader in the rate at which it puts its people behind bars. A new report using state-by-state data says a record 2,319,258 Americans were in jail or prison at the start of 2008—one out of every 99.1 adults.
The report by the Pew Center on the States also documents record increases in financial outlays for incarceration, with the 50 US states spending more than $49 billion on prisons last year, almost five times more than the $11 billion spent 20 years ago.
The statistics in the report reflect a society that, while exporting violence in aggressive wars abroad, metes out parallel punishment on its population at home.
The rate of increase for prison costs last year was six times higher than the rate of increase for higher education spending. With many US states strapped for cash and facing budget shortfalls, the spending for prisons and jails has resulted in a proportionate decrease in spending on education and other social needs.
The study notes that mandatory sentencing laws and “get tough on crime” measures pushed by state legislatures have contributed to the burgeoning prison population. Even in states where crime rates have decreased, the numbers of imprisoned continue to grow.
A 1986 federal law mandated prison terms for crack cocaine offenses that are up to eight times longer than those involving powdered cocaine. Minorities, workers and the poor are far more likely to be sentenced for crack cocaine offenses.
The rate of incarceration for African Americans is significantly higher than for the overall population. An astonishing one of every nine black men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars. For black women ages 35 to 39, one in 100 is imprisoned, compared with one in 355 white women of the same age.
Between 1990 and 2000, the prison population increased by about 80 percent. One of the biggest contributing factors was the adoption by states of “three-strikes-and-you’re-out” laws mandating draconian sentences, no matter the nature of the third offense. Legislation was also passed curtailing the discretion of state parole boards in deciding when an inmate can be released.
Notably, these increased incarceration figures have had little or negative impact on the rate of repeat offenders.
The incarcerated population increased last year in 36 states as well in as the federal prison system. The largest percentage increase was in Kentucky, which had 12 percent more inmates in state prisons and jails at the beginning of this year than at the beginning of 2007. While the state’s crime rate has increased by only about 3 percent over the last three decades, the state’s prison population has increased by 600 percent.
As in the US South as a whole, the prison population in Florida has surged, close to doubling over the last 15 years. The state’s inmate population increased from 53,000 to more than 97,000 between 1993 and 1997. The Pew study notes that analysts attribute this growth mainly to a host of correctional policies and practices adopted by the state.
In 1995, the Florida legislature abolished “good time” credits and discretionary release by the state’s parole boards. The study notes that now “all prisoners—regardless of their crime, prior record, or risk to recidivate—serve 85 percent of their sentence.”
A new “zero tolerance” policy adopted by Florida also mandated that probation officers report all technical violations by paroled prisoners. This measure alone has resulted in a 12,000 jump in the prison population while the actual crime rate has declined.
Without a change in these policies, the prison population in Florida is expected to reach nearly 125,000 inmates by 2013. The report notes that based on this projection, “the state will run out of prison capacity by early 2009 and will need to add another 16,500 beds to keep pace.”
The amount spent to keep Americans behind bars is as staggering as the numbers incarcerated. Thirteen states now spend more than $1 billion a year out of their general funds on their corrections systems.
California is the leader, spending $8.8 billion last year on the more than 171,000 prisoners in the state, a 216 percent increase over 20 years earlier. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last year signed a bill authorizing $7.9 billion in additional spending on corrections, to pay for 53,000 more prison and jail beds.
The Pew study shows that state corrections budgets now consume 6.8 percent of state general funds. This means that one in every 15 dollars from states’ discretionary funds goes towards prison costs.
As a percentage, in fiscal year 2006 transportation was the only category of spending by states to increase more than costs for prisons and jails, which increased by 9.2 percent during this period. This increase outpaced spending on education and Medicaid.
A comparison of the funds spent by states on higher education with spending on incarceration provides a revealing glimpse into priorities. In 2007, states collectively spent $72.88 billion on higher education, an increase of 121 percent over the $33 billion spent in 1987. During this same period, prison-related spending rose 315 percent, with states spending a combined $44 billion in 2007, up from $10.6 billion two decades earlier.
As both a percentage of its population and in real numbers, the US prison population outranks the inmate populations of the 26 European countries with the largest numbers of prisoners. The Russian Federation, with a reported prison population of 889,598, is second. Denmark, with 3,626 prisoners, has the lowest rate of these countries.
These 26 countries, with a combined population of 802.4 million, imprison 1.8 million; the US, with a population of about 300 million, imprisons close to 2.3 million. According to the study, China, with an estimated population of 1.3 billion, has the second highest number of prisoners behind bars, 1.5 million.
=0 A 
These extraordinary figures are one reflection of the enormous social contradictions of American society. The United States is the most unequal of any industrialized country and ranks high on every measure of stress, depression, alienation and other social ills. Despite the US’s self-declared status as a beacon of democracy and freedom, American capitalism has no humane, rational or progressive response to social problems. Instead, social problems are treated as police matters.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps! 

__._,_.___
Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic 
Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Polls | Members | Calendar 
GANGBOX: CONSTRUCTION WORKERS NEWS SERVICE
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/gangboxnews/
http://groups.google.com/group/gangbox/
http://gangbox.wordpress.com
"UNION NOW, UNION FOREVER" 
MARKETPLACE

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>From kitchen basics to easy recipes - join the Group from Kraft Foods 
 
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) 
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional 
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity
  a..  1New Members
Visit Your Group 
Group Charity
Be the Change

A citizen movement

to change the world

Check out the
Y! Groups blog

Stay up to speed

on all things Groups!

Yahoo! Groups
w/ John McEnroe

Join the All-Bran

Day 10 Club.
. 

__,_._,___


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG. 
Version: 7.5.557 / Virus Database: 270.11.6/1981 - Release Date: 3/3/2009 7:25 AM
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/archive/peace-discuss/attachments/20090304/fa450706/attachment.html