Hamilton Nolan writes:
The USA incarcerates a higher percentage of its citizen than any other nation on earth. (We're #1!) Needless to say, we've accomplished that feat largely on the backs of minorities, particularly black people, who are incarcerated at more than six times the rate of white people.[...]
A new report from The Sentencing Project finds that the past decade has shown a marked decline in incarceration of black people in America.[But] from 2000 to 2009, the incarceration rate of white men rose 8.5%, and of white women, 47%(!)[...]
The broader takeaway is that the racial mix of those we incarcerate (particularly women) is changing, but the fact of America's mass incarceration is not. "The overall rate of incarceration in the United States remains at five times the rate that prevailed in 1970."
Dem wimmen be actin' up!! I mean, they MUST be right???
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what I meant by "they MUST be right!" Too much rum, I guess.....
DeleteAccording to the report, the number of women in prison in the US increased 646% from 1980 to 2010, while the number of men in prison increased 419% during the same period.
ReplyDeleteBehold the evil fruit of the war on people who self-medicate in any manner not approved by the Federal Government. The "War on Drugs" I mean.
It's like the Dilbert cartoon, where the corporation had a goal of 5 annual workplace injuries, so they had to push three people down the stairs in December in order to meet their goal.
ReplyDeleteThere are too many black men in prison, so the solution is to increase the number of non-black men in prison (not address the problems that are putting black men in prison, like the failed welfare/interventionist state).
"There are too many black men in prison"
ReplyDeleteDoubtful. Blacks commit about the same # of violent crimes as whites, but are 1/6th as numerous. White #s often include hispanics, so the actual number is *probably* lower.
While I side with libertarians on the failed drug war policies and need to reduce the prison-industrial complex, the other side of the coin is that when violent criminals are *not* permitted in society, the amount of crime actually goes...down? I am a fan of the Pareto Principle, what can I say.
So the correct answer to me is reduce the number of people in jail for non-violent crimes but continue to lock up those who violate the societal compact (as it were).