Clickey.

I really don't know what to say, other than that's really fucked up and we need to fix it.

Some highlights:

• The US not only has the highest per capita incarceration rate (1 in 99.1 adults), but we have more prisoners than anyone.  Even China who we bag on all the time about human rights has less people in prison than we do and they have like 4x our population.
• 1 in 30 men between 20 and 34 is in prison.
• 1 in 9 black men in the same age group is in prison.
• In Kentucky, the violent crime rate has increased 3% in the last 30 years, but the prison population has increased 600%

I think the last point is the most telling of a broken system - in Kentucky they have six times more people in prison and their crime rate actually went up.  Also it's a double-hit on our economy, we pay to put all those people in jail and they don't produce anything (except license plates, maybe) while they're there.

I think we need to focus more on rehabilitation and community service for non-violent and lesser offenses, and maybe think about bringing back corporal punishment for offenses that warrant more than that but aren't worth putting someone away for years and years for.  This is just another thing that's out of control in our country.

We also need to stop putting people IN FUCKING PRISON FOR MARIJUANA POSSESSION. I am not some pothead or anything, but honestly, how does doing a mild, non-addictive, abundant drug that grows wild in the US in many places register as something you need to be locked up for. I am only saying this because marijuana charges are a huge bulk of new prisoners every year last I heard, not to start a topic about marijuana legalization.

China has less persons in prisions because they execute most criminals.

Do yourself a favor and find the statistic for "number of minorities in prison." 

I don't want to sound rude or racist, but I guarantee the number of hispanics in prison is higher than any other race demographic.

Do yourself a favor and find the statistic for "number of minorities in prison." 

I don't want to sound rude or racist, but I guarantee the number of hispanics in prison is higher than any other race demographic.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/prisons.htm

Blacks have the Hispanics by more than double, Marcus:

At yearend 2006 there were 3,042 black male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 black males in the United States, compared to 1,261 Hispanic male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 Hispanic males and 487 white male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 white males.

3.04% of black men vs 1.26% of Hispanic men as of 2007. Also, that means CNN's statistics are either from another source or incorrect, since I doubt they have raised that far since January 2007.

ooft that's a pretty bad ratio.

We also need to stop putting people IN FUCKING PRISON FOR MARIJUANA POSSESSION. I am not some pothead or anything, but honestly, how does doing a mild, non-addictive, abundant drug that grows wild in the US in many places register as something you need to be locked up for. I am only saying this because marijuana charges are a huge bulk of new prisoners every year last I heard, not to start a topic about marijuana legalization.

yeah i done a quick google and found that 360,000 people were arrested and put in jail for dope possession between 1996-2006. i dunno how much off an effect it would have on the long term statistics though, cos these guys are only in there for a day or two usually. would the number count people in jail for such short stays?

i don't know what can be done about this, but i'm surprised it hasn't been getting more attention, cos this kind of thing doesn't just pop up overnight. how much of it is bad law, and how much is legitimate. i sat and thought for a moment about you would go about getting the number down but that probably isn't the way to go because it would mean a lot of dickheads would get off light.

i guess, community service for the smaller drug crimes and an emphasis on rehabilitation for users rather than punishment. i don't know how that works in the usa, but i am assuming that it's probably more about rounding the junkies up and throwing them in jail than helping them out.

this is just a really massive kind of problem that i dunno how to start thinking about.

Also it's a double-hit on our economy, we pay to put all those people in jail and they don't produce anything (except license plates, maybe) while they're there.

I dunno about this. You may take a look at another CNN article on the subject:

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2006/12/01/8394995/index.htm

We also need to stop putting people IN FUCKING PRISON FOR MARIJUANA POSSESSION. I am not some pothead or anything, but honestly, how does doing a mild, non-addictive, abundant drug that grows wild in the US in many places register as something you need to be locked up for. I am only saying this because marijuana charges are a huge bulk of new prisoners every year last I heard, not to start a topic about marijuana legalization.

Not only this but they have MANDATORY minimum sentences. Ugh.

Do yourself a favor and find the statistic for "number of minorities in prison." 

I don't want to sound rude or racist, but I guarantee the number of hispanics in prison is higher than any other race demographic.

nope. still blacks.

This is... disturbing. I blame the school system (although this is far too complex an issue to pin to one source, I would at least say schools are largely to blame).

here's part of the problem

buy it if you want (i didn't; I found out about it in a book I'm reading), but it basically goes into detail about, among other things, the tendency for probation officers to be racially biased in their probation reports.  a study conducted among those with roughly the same crimes committed, the same age and background described black offenders as "bad kids with character flaws" and white offenders as "victims of negative environmental factors" such as family conflict or delinquent friends.

how do you fix this, though?  yeah reprimand or fire the officer, but i've recently been enlightened to just how deep it all goes.  this is not a one solution problem.

It's a psychological problem in white america that I think is growing less and less in the forefront with our generation than the last.

I am humbled by the amount of backhanded racism that our parent's generation (and to a slightly lesser extent our generation) uses on a day to day basis. There are a large amount of people that are pretty dispicable, racist, human beings, but hide behind veils of political correctness on a daily basis.

People who think that minorities are not a target for the police and our criminal justice system simply haven't studied sociology or political science at all.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/prisons.htm

Blacks have the Hispanics by more than double, Marcus:

3.04% of black men vs 1.26% of Hispanic men as of 2007. Also, that means CNN's statistics are either from another source or incorrect, since I doubt they have raised that far since January 2007.

there are more hispanics than blacks so using a ratio is kind of misleading (i don't think they have more than double though)

idk maybe they do:

Thus each racial category contains Non-Hispanic or Latino and Hispanic or Latino Americans; for example: the White race category contains Non-Hispanic Whites and Hispanic Whites (White Hispanics); the Black or African American category contains Non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanic Blacks (Black Hispanics); and likewise for all the other categories

Right away I think, strict usa marijuana laws compared to the number of users.

It really is stupid for them to put people in jail for simple personal use. Here in Canada, cops don't really give a shit to an extent. If they bust you, they'll take it and any pipe etc. you have and dispose of them. And give you a warning. At the most they'll get you suspended from school if it was during school hours.

Well, one other punishment seems to be taking you home to your parents and telling them what a naughty boy you've been.

they should get all those prisoners in a stadium or some shit and have them do mad feats of group coordination

This is... disturbing. I blame the school system (although this is far too complex an issue to pin to one source, I would at least say schools are largely to blame).

your an idiot and i hope you get thrown in prison

We also need to stop putting people IN FUCKING PRISON FOR MARIJUANA POSSESSION. I am not some pothead or anything, but honestly, how does doing a mild, non-addictive, abundant drug that grows wild in the US in many places register as something you need to be locked up for. I am only saying this because marijuana charges are a huge bulk of new prisoners every year last I heard, not to start a topic about marijuana legalization.

Because drugs not only ruin many peoples lives but also ruins society. How it ruins society I don't even have to mention since everyone already knows pretty much / or can figure it out.

In Thailand the punishment for drug use is execution. Sweden has deals with Thailand so they just send swedes back here, but if you're from a country that doesn't have a deal or a native, you're royally fucked. The reason for this is because they need to deal with the entire fucked up society that drugs create. That's why you have tougher punishments, there is only one reason and it is very simple, it's an attempt to make people not fucking do drugs.

except putting people in prison for a medical condition (addiction to drugs) is not really smart?

nope. still blacks.

that's because they deport hispanics and i base this figure on absolutely nothing (btw you cannot dispute this it is undisputable).

In all seriousness, this figure doesn't surprise me.  I mean, it's basic math.

There are more people in the United States now than 10 years ago and the number of people in prison is proportionate to the population.  So, using some mathematical property I learned in middle school but forgot the name of because it's wholly unimportant to success of everyday life, I concur that the percentage of people in prison increases as the overall population increases.

Right away I think, strict usa marijuana laws compared to the number of users.

It really is stupid for them to put people in jail for simple personal use. Here in Canada, cops don't really give a shit to an extent. If they bust you, they'll take it and any pipe etc. you have and dispose of them. And give you a warning. At the most they'll get you suspended from school if it was during school hours.

Well, one other punishment seems to be taking you home to your parents and telling them what a naughty boy you've been.

canada sounds awesome