America's inmate population grew by 2.9 percent last year, to almost 2.1 million people, with one of
every 75 men living in prison or jail. The inmate population continued its
rise despite a fall in the crime rate and many states'efforts
to reduce some sentences, especially for low-level drug offenders. [more]
Nearly
one in three (32.2%) African American males in the age
group of 20-29 (829,440) is under criminal justice
supervision on any given day in prison or jail, on probation or parole.
Hispanic men are almost four times as likley to go to prison at some point in their lives as non-Hispanic white males. [more]
Abuse of prisoners is not an exception; it's an American tradition
When President Bush announced in his speech Monday night
that the U.S.intends to demolish Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison and
pay to build a new maximum security facility in Baghdad, I
thought,now,there's something that the United States really knows how
to do.We know how to build prisons. And no wonder. The U.S. has more
of its citizens behind bars
than any other country. Of the estimated 9 million people
incarcerated worldwide, more than 2 million are locked up right here
at home, and a majority of them are people of color and poor people. [more]
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
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