US Tops World In Prison Inmate Population
April 24th, 2008 | by Ken Grandlund |
With only five percent of the world’s total population, the United States accounts for almost 25% of the world’s prisoners, according to an article in today’s New York Times. It feels good to still be No. 1, right?
The United States has 2.3 million people behind bars, far outpacing the number two contender, that bastion of freedom known as China. China, which has four times as many people as America, has an inmate population of 1.6 million. And while the Chinese number does not count political prisoners, adding them to the tally only increases China’s total by a few hundred thousand, still not enough to catch up to the U.S.A.
America also has the largest percentage of inmates per population too, with about 751 people in jail for every 100,000 of the population. Next highest honors go to Russia with 627 per 100,000.
But our first place ranking doesn’t stop there. America also doles out some of the longest sentences- for example, someone serving a sentence for burglary in the U.S. can expect up to 16 months in the clink, compared to 5 months in Canada or 7 months in England.
And we’re first in sentencing people to prison for minor offenses-America is the only advanced country to lock people up for things like writing bad checks-and top of the chart for drug “crimes.” (In 1980 about 40,000 people in the U.S. were in jail for drug crimes. Today’s rate is close to half a million.)
Why the disparity, you might ask? Several factors come into play, according to the article. Among them are a higher than average violent crime rate, partly due to the easy access to guns; longer overall incarceration terms; and a little thing called democracy. Apparently, since many judges and prosecutors are elected offices in America, holders of those offices seek public approval to maintain their jobs, and as such, are more likely to give the public what they say they want-long prison sentences for everyone convicted of any crime. And politics has added to the length of prison sentences with mandatory sentencing too.
Don’t get me wrong here. I don’t want violent offenders or child molesters running free any more than anyone else does. But I am opposed to the War on Drugs which locks up too many people for all the wrong reasons. And I am against mandatory sentencing guidelines that treat all offenses of a similar nature as if they were exactly alike.
Being number one can be a great feeling, especially if that ranking involves education scores, economic prosperity, personal freedoms, or an honest and reliable government. Unfortunately, we don’t top the scales in those categories these days. Instead, we’re number one in locking people up-and spending our money to keep them there.
25 Responses to “US Tops World In Prison Inmate Population”
By Dr. Forbush on Apr 24, 2008 | Reply
Since the reason for jail is to lock up those who are evil so only the good will be free. So, since we have so many people behind bars it seems to reason that we must be the safest country in the world? If this isn’t the case, then the only other reasonable explaination is that the laws in this country must be wrong…
By steve on Apr 24, 2008 | Reply
Don’t commit the crimes if you can’t do the times! It’s simple!
By Kathy on Apr 24, 2008 | Reply
Nice post. I agree - this isn’t something we want to be #1 on.
I blogged about this today also. It really bugs me that we spend so much to lock people up when there are far more effective ways to spend that money (education, social services) to prevent people from committing crimes.
By Jersey McJones on Apr 24, 2008 | Reply
Ever smoke a joint, Steve? Steal anything, ever? Anything? Or are you a little goody two-shoes who never did a bad thing in your life. The fact of the matter is that we have a drug war (re: race war) on and we’re locking people up en masse for victimless non-violent crimes. You okay with that? Like jack-boots kicking down doors? You’d have loved Nazi Germany.
JMJ
By Jet Netwal on Apr 24, 2008 | Reply
Locking people up for drug use is stupid. If we have to have it be illegal, why not just assign community service to offenders? I think if we got them stoned turned them loose to beautify a park, we’d have some kick-ass looking parks.
By Jersey McJones on Apr 24, 2008 | Reply
LOL! That renminds me of an interview I caught on NPR with Tommy Chong just after he was released from the prison farm for that bong business his son was running. He said, and I paraphrase, ‘Oh, they love to lock up pot heads, they make great gardeners.’
JMJ
By Jersey McJones on Apr 24, 2008 | Reply
Hey, Jet, aren’t you a Floridian?
JMJ
By Jet Netwal on Apr 24, 2008 | Reply
Yes. I live in Lake county, about 50 minutes from Inverness.
By Jersey McJones on Apr 24, 2008 | Reply
That’s right. Did you hear about the anti-evolution bill that just passed the state senate? What is this? Florida or Kansas???
JMJ
By Jet Netwal on Apr 24, 2008 | Reply
I think it’s the state of ignorance, actually.
By Jersey McJones on Apr 24, 2008 | Reply
America’s Wang. What a fitting nickname.
JMJ
By Jet Netwal on Apr 24, 2008 | Reply
Wangs aren’t particularly noted for clarity of thought, Scotch Man.
They do seem to have a good grasp of single-minded purpose, however. This would appear to be a fit in this instance.
By mr bigstuff on Apr 24, 2008 | Reply
yo steve,
are you just like many of the dope smoking, hard drinking east tennesseans here in the hills who hang out in bars talking shit about much ass “we” should kick in the middle east and how we oughta lock em up and throw away the key? probably fucking so. it’s real easy to see who the right wing redneck fools are by their response on this issue. they respond just like you did with mindless easily memorized phrases that sometime even rhyme instead of looking at an issue and making an intelligent decision. the fact that your cute little phoney tough big talk reply rhymes makes it a lot easier for morons like you to remember. two more questions for you: 1. what happened to all those w stickers? and 2. how many times does it take you to get the math right on the spam blocker? has it ever been less than three?
By Jet Netwal on Apr 24, 2008 | Reply
Mr. bigstuff. This is the second time I’ve seen you attacking other commentors in less than a month. This is not how we roll here on BIO. Attack the topic all you want, and ENGAGE in constructive dialog with people you disagree with, however, no personal attacks. This is a progressive blog, and we feel confident we can defend the progressive opinon without denigrating our readers. It’s not that hard. I suggest you try it.
If you can’t, and I see more personal attacks, I will delete your comments. Thanks.
By Jersey McJones on Apr 24, 2008 | Reply
You said it, Jet. Now where’s my Chivas…???
JMJ
By Lisa on Apr 25, 2008 | Reply
Mr Bigstuff-Steve is alot smarter and more educated and successful than you are. I can tell by your reponse to his comment, Now go back to sodomizing donkeys or whatever it is you do.
By Lisa on Apr 25, 2008 | Reply
SOrry Jet was that too harsh?
By Jet Netwal on Apr 25, 2008 | Reply
Well, it doesn’t help.
Let us handle the moderating; y’all just hang out and have a good time, ok?
By Lisa on Apr 25, 2008 | Reply
okay no moderating for me.
By mr bigstuff on Apr 25, 2008 | Reply
lisa,
good come back. get ready for a nice kick in the ass from my favorite donkey come november
By mr bigstuff on Apr 25, 2008 | Reply
lisa,
i forgot to ask you, what happened to your w sticker? did you slap a “fred 08″ sticker on top of it? is there such thing as a huckabee sticker and if so, how many did you buy?
By mr bigstuff on Apr 25, 2008 | Reply
lisa,
i was going to be quite, but i can’t resist this one. i don’t sodomize donkeys. a man of my size needs elephants. plus, elephants are a lot dumber than donkeys, they fall for my lines a lot quicker.
By Chris Radulich on Apr 25, 2008 | Reply
Prison’s are a growth industry in some parts of the country. Upstate NY would be a depression area if not for the Rockerfeller drug laws. That is why you will never see the laws liberalized. Too many good white people will lose thier jobs. I hear norther florida is the same.
By Jet Netwal on Apr 25, 2008 | Reply
Could it be? No, surely not… it IS! Topic!
In Sumter County, near me, the prison is a major employer. (That’s Central Florida.) It feels like the folks who could never afford housing and cost of living in cities can rally around the cheap stuff in out of the way places and live well…. guarding pot-heads cum B&E experts. The whole premise is absurd, and dangerous.
By Dusty on Apr 25, 2008 | Reply
What bothers me is how many states are farming out their prisons to ..yes..those wonderful independent contractors. Texas is quite fond of that practice.
Putting pot smokers in jail has been the American way for decades now. I would rather see our prisons full of child molesters and folks like Andrew Fastow & Jeffery Skilling who cost Americans millions of dollars with their schemes.