1 in every 32 U.S. adults behind bars, on probation or on parole in 2005!?

Question

Which is a higher per capita rate then red China, infact its the highest in the world!

Since our system is't working what is a viable solution?

1 in every 32 U.S. adults behind bars, on probation or on parole in 2005

The Associated Press

12/01/06 "AP" -- -- -A record 7 million people — or one in every 32 American adults — were behind bars, on probation or on parole by the end of last year, according to the Justice Department.

Of those, 2.2 million were in prison or jail, an increase of 2.7 percent over the previous year, according to a report released Wednesday.

More than 4.1 million people were on probation and 784,208 were on parole at the end of 2005. Prison releases are increasing, but admissions are increasing more

Answer 1

I have written several articles pertaining to this injustice, and have had some pretty stupid responses, hope you do better,
Since 1950 our politicians have pumped out thousands of new laws every year, my question is why and so many are so stupid, is this a experiment or what to see how far they can push the American people or has it become so profitable for a certain group. I feel it is both , prison industries are a profitable business and owned by a privileged few, JUDGES, Prosecutors
Federal agents , CERTAIN GUARDS, ETC , some say our crime rate has gone out of sight?? it has because every law they pass means someone will be breaking it, therefore going to prison,
there are a lot more people in this country since the 50's also , so the per capita crime is much lower today than it has ever been if you take away the over 50,000 new laws that hae been added to our law books, also black crime was not counted until the 70's they policed them selves pretty much until the N,A,A,P.C, insisted that blacks came under the same rules, now blacks commit over 80%of the crime commited today,but their crimes were mostly against other blacks "same today," but all of their crimes are reported and in the records, which the police use to get more financing for their depts, "smart" we have our scared to death holier than tho people who want everyone locked up so they will feel completely safe , however the gov, nor the police can protect you and they have said so, so get a damned gun and protect your self, and stop making some privlidged A,, hole"s richer, we have 98.8% conviction ratio in our courts today so no one can get a fair trial, unless he is O,J, with millions of dollars to hire the best lawyers , don't anyone feel shame when statictics show we have more peole locked up than any country in the world, "civilized"??? our nation has become a police state , and our forefathers sure tried to warn us of these dangers

Answer 2

A Viable Solution ?!?!
First of all, our country has more freedom than any other society on the face of the earth !!!
And that freedom is a definite contributor to crime level .
Considering that, 1 in 32 = a lttle more than 3% .

Sure it could be better, but it's not that high taking many things into consideration .



Although there are many, for starters I think a viable solution would be to allow Prayer in School . Look at the history, and you will see that crime went up since we started removing Prayer and anything else to do with Jesus !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edit* - After reading some of the responses, I agree drugs are a big contributor . Marijuana should not be a 'controlled substance' .

Answer 3

I wonder if some of this can be attributed to the "3 strikes you're out" law. Also, the population of the US is increasing. If it is increasing by more than 2.7% than the # of prisoners is holding steady proportionately.

Last, there is a very high rate of recidivism - we are probably imprisoning the same people over and over again.

Answer 4

You will not find the cause of this problem seated in today's culture or government programs. You need to look back 30 years to see what bred the criminals of today.
The 70s was a time that children grew up watching anti-heroes on TV, like Scarface. Lax welfare programs made it easy for sociopaths to reproduce. The welfare program of the 70s promoted fatherless families. One common denominator of criminals today is that they grew up without a male figure in their lives.
We are seeing today the result of the misdirection of the 70s. Although most of us don't like the conservative right pushing the family values issue, they are actually hitting on the root cause of this problem your are addressing.

Answer 5

I read that yesterday. Also that Federal Prisons are running at 30% over capacity, and state prisons are 17% over capacity.

Lot's of bad laws on the books. Interesting response about the war on drugs, but I don't think legalizing any of the currently illegal drugs will cut down on the number of people in the penal system.

For one thing, quit screwing around on capital punishment. Start following through on death sentences, and do it in a timely manner. Say within 6 months of the conviction and sentencing. 1 appeal, that's it. Not 20 years of appeals and sitting on death row.

The US Justice Department reported that in 2003, alone, 270,000 illegal immigrants had served prison time. The Federation for American Immigration Reform reports: “In March 2000, Congress made public Department of Justice statistics showing that, over the previous five years, the INS had released over 35,000 criminal aliens instead of deporting them. Over 11,000 of those released went on to commit serious crimes, over 1,800 of which were violent ones; including 98 homicides, 142 sexual assaults, and 44 kidnappings. In 2001, thanks to a decision by the Supreme Court, the INS was forced to release into our society over 3,000 criminal aliens who collectively had been convicted of 125 homicides, 387 sex offenses, and 772 assault charges.”

The Federal Bureau of Prisons estimates that fully one-third of current prison populations are comprised of non-citizen illegals.

Islamic terrorists, including Mexicans with terrorist ties, have entered and are continuing to enter the US via our unsecured borders.

Build the fence already that will help too!

Answer 6

You want to know whats wrong with our system, and why so many people are in jail, even more so than communist China? Its because this failed war on drugs is taking away people's lives, their precious years they have to live, locking them away, all for what? For getting high, for doing something stupid, and yet its non violent, it hurts no one but themselves, and the cure? Lock them away so the tax payers have to feed, clothe and provide shelter for them! Its preposterous, this war on drugs should be stopped. These people lose their lives for nothing more than a failed "war" that has been declared upon our own citizens. It should be a process of decriminalization and rehabilitation, not of incarcertaion and punishment...that my humble opinion, sorry for the rant

Answer 7

With the average hourly rate at $25,and the minimum wage less than $6,how can people survive.

Answer 8

That's a good point. Most of those violations have to do with illegal drugs. Our drug laws need to be changed and we need to stop this lunacy called "The War on Drugs". Very couter-productive. It has become worse than alcohol Prohibition and just as silly.

Answer 9

Stopping the war on drugs would be a good start. Certain drugs, like weed can be legalized taxed and turned into a profit for the government.

Answer 10

Most of the increase is due to drug violations. This is how we win the war on drugs; locking up and giving criminal records to millions. We are winning the war on terror by assisting anarchy in the middle east. These are such great wars!