Your room reserved yet, reader?
Also see: U.S. World Champion Incarcerator
"US prison population nears 1.6m"
"by Adam Liptak, New York Times News Service | February 29, 2008
NEW YORK - For the first time in the nation's history, more than 1 in 100 American adults is behind bars, according to a new report.
Nationwide, the prison population grew by 25,000 last year, bringing it to almost 1.6 million. Another 723,000 people are in local jails....
O'er the LAND of the FREEEEEEEE....
Incarceration rates are even higher for some groups. One in 36 Hispanic adults is behind bars, based on Justice Department figures for 2006. One in 15 black adults is, too, as is 1 in 9 black men between the ages of 20 and 34.
The report, from the Pew Center on the States, also found that only 1 in 355 white women between the ages of 35 and 39 is behind bars, compared with 1 in 100 black women....
The report said, "prison costs are blowing a hole in state budgets." On average, states spend almost 7 percent of their budgets on corrections, trailing only healthcare, education, and transportation....But we got plenty of money for wars!!!
With money from bond issues and from the federal government included, total state spending on corrections last year was $49 billion. By 2011, the report said, states are on track to spend an additional $25 billion....
About 1 in 9 state government employees works in corrections, and some states are finding it hard to fill those jobs....
What do they mean they are having trouble filling jobs?
What, they can't find any illegals?
Is this government even interested in full-staff and funding of anything, readers, or is it just all a bunch of HOT FART MIST FOOLEYS!
John Whitmire, a Democratic state senator from Houston and the chairman of the Texas Senate's Criminal Justice Committee:
"The problem was that we weren't smart about nonviolent offenders. The Legislature finally caught up with the public."Before the recent changes in Texas, Whitmire said, "we were recycling nonviolent offenders.""
What are non-violent people even doing in jail?
Drugs?
"Cop leaves dashboard camera on while planting drugs on suspect and attacking him with dog"
".... A Cookeville officer is seen allegedly placing drugs on the man, Carlos Ferrell, before arresting him...."
