One of the things that bothers me the most about the US is the state of our judicial system, especially our correctional system. This post is fairly heavy so if you're really ripped I'd recommend another topic. I think people should be aware of this problem. Our correctional system is terrible, and I don't think we can honestly say that we're a good and moral nation so long as it's the way it is, and getting worse.
Here are a few quick facts that may make your jaw drop.
-There are 8 million people incarcerated in the world. Of which, over 2 million are in US prisons and jails.
-We have more people in prison than any other nation in the world, both in actual numbers, as well as proportionally.
-The only countries which kill more inmates sentenced to death than the US are China, North Korea, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Not to mention all those who die due to their conditions.
-In Louisiana (the state with the highest rate of incarceration), one in every 26 adults are under correctional control if probation and parole are included. Many are serving time at Angola, which is a modern day prison plantation.
-Blacks and other minorities have it even worse. One in every 3 black men can expect to find themselves jailed at some point.
"African-Americans are arrested, prosecuted, and imprisoned for drug offenses at far higher rates than whites. This racial disparity bears little relationship to racial differences in drug offending. For example, although the proportion of all drug users who are black is generally in the range of 13 to 15 percent, blacks constitute 36 percent of arrests for drug possession. Blacks constitute 63 percent of all drug offenders admitted to state prisons. In at least fifteen states, black men were sent to prison on drug charges at rates ranging from twenty to fifty-seven times those of white men."
-Over 2500 youths are serving life without the possibility of parole. We are the only country that sentences youth to life without parole (every other nation recognizes that it's cruel and unusual punishment).
-In many states, prisoners lose their right to vote, sometimes permanently.
-In some states, if you are imprisoned and later found not guilty, the state owes you absolutely nothing. Louisiana is one of them. There are many cases where someone will be freed due to DNA evidence after 20 years. They are owed nothing for their time.
-In all states, it is much more difficult to file a lawsuit as a prisoner, thanks to the Prisoner Litigation Reform Act. At many prisons, there's basically no way for someone to file a case after being raped, beaten, etc.
So those are the statistics about how it's a problem. But the conditions are great right? Our prisons are some of the roughest in the world, especially relative to the rest of the developed world. People routinely go to jail for a non-violent offense, and end up coming out with hepatitis c and AIDS, after having been raped repeatedly.
Here's a topic on something awful which inspired me to make this topic. You don't have to be a member to read it. It's really depressing stuff but good to know.
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3161033&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1
Personally, I think if we're going to call ourselves a moral nation, we have to treat everyone with some basic level of decency - even prisoners. Treating them like shit doesn't do anything positive - in fact it makes things much worse. There's a fairly good new book out called When Brute Force Fails by Mark Kleiman I've been reading. It's up on Google books for free.
It really disgusts me that there's this huge problem out there that no politician gives a **** about. They usually have competitions to see who can be the most brutal in fact. After looking at our own prisons, it's easy to see how things like Abu Graib happened. They're no different than our own jails. Actually Abu Graib probably isn't as bad, since they didn't have to worry about sexual violence.
Happy trails.
Here are a few quick facts that may make your jaw drop.
-There are 8 million people incarcerated in the world. Of which, over 2 million are in US prisons and jails.
-We have more people in prison than any other nation in the world, both in actual numbers, as well as proportionally.
-The only countries which kill more inmates sentenced to death than the US are China, North Korea, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Not to mention all those who die due to their conditions.
-In Louisiana (the state with the highest rate of incarceration), one in every 26 adults are under correctional control if probation and parole are included. Many are serving time at Angola, which is a modern day prison plantation.
-Blacks and other minorities have it even worse. One in every 3 black men can expect to find themselves jailed at some point.
"African-Americans are arrested, prosecuted, and imprisoned for drug offenses at far higher rates than whites. This racial disparity bears little relationship to racial differences in drug offending. For example, although the proportion of all drug users who are black is generally in the range of 13 to 15 percent, blacks constitute 36 percent of arrests for drug possession. Blacks constitute 63 percent of all drug offenders admitted to state prisons. In at least fifteen states, black men were sent to prison on drug charges at rates ranging from twenty to fifty-seven times those of white men."
-Over 2500 youths are serving life without the possibility of parole. We are the only country that sentences youth to life without parole (every other nation recognizes that it's cruel and unusual punishment).
-In many states, prisoners lose their right to vote, sometimes permanently.
-In some states, if you are imprisoned and later found not guilty, the state owes you absolutely nothing. Louisiana is one of them. There are many cases where someone will be freed due to DNA evidence after 20 years. They are owed nothing for their time.
-In all states, it is much more difficult to file a lawsuit as a prisoner, thanks to the Prisoner Litigation Reform Act. At many prisons, there's basically no way for someone to file a case after being raped, beaten, etc.
So those are the statistics about how it's a problem. But the conditions are great right? Our prisons are some of the roughest in the world, especially relative to the rest of the developed world. People routinely go to jail for a non-violent offense, and end up coming out with hepatitis c and AIDS, after having been raped repeatedly.
Here's a topic on something awful which inspired me to make this topic. You don't have to be a member to read it. It's really depressing stuff but good to know.
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3161033&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1
Personally, I think if we're going to call ourselves a moral nation, we have to treat everyone with some basic level of decency - even prisoners. Treating them like shit doesn't do anything positive - in fact it makes things much worse. There's a fairly good new book out called When Brute Force Fails by Mark Kleiman I've been reading. It's up on Google books for free.
It really disgusts me that there's this huge problem out there that no politician gives a **** about. They usually have competitions to see who can be the most brutal in fact. After looking at our own prisons, it's easy to see how things like Abu Graib happened. They're no different than our own jails. Actually Abu Graib probably isn't as bad, since they didn't have to worry about sexual violence.
Happy trails.
