by Viviana Shafrin

One quarter of the World’s Prisoners

With well over half the prison population performing victimless crimes.

That’s what it means to be locked up in America.

…



Source: Criminal Justice Degree Hub

Locked up in America

Greetings from the Country that holds 1/4 of the world’s prisoners.[3]

America has the largest correctional budget of the world.

Largest Spending States Total:

1.)California:$7,900,000,000

2.)New York:$3,600,000,000

3.)Texas:$3,300,000,000

4.)Pennsylvania:$2,100,000,000

5.)Florida:$2,080,000,000

Largest Spending per prisoner:

1.)New York:$60,076

2.)New Jersey:$54,865

3.)Connecticut:$50,262

4.)Vermont:$49,502

5.)Rhode Island:$49,133

———

Total Spending: $39,000,000,000

That’s 2/3 of the entire public education budget

Or the equivalent of the average earnings of 18.7 million families in the U.S.

———–

And the most prisoners:

[plot out number of inmates per year, info on spreadsheet.Can also include the percfentage change per year plotted as bars going up and down from the trend line–also on spreadsheet.][5][6][9]

Top Five yearly increases in prison population

[year, percentage increase from previous year][5][6]

1.)2003-2004:51%+

2.)1988-1989:21%+

3.) 1991-1992:14%+

4.)1926-1927:12%+

5.)1981-1982:12%+

with 1/9 serving a LIFE SENTENCE[4]

In comparison:

[inmates per 100,000 citizens][9]

America: 760

Japan: 63

Germany: 90

France: 96

South Korea: 97

Britain: 153

Leaving the U.S. with 5% of the world’s population, and 25% of the world’s prisoners. [3]

Why? Because we “define deviancy down.”

Patrick Moynihan(1993) “Defining Deviency Down”[2]

What we learn:

“the number of deviancies which come to a community’s attention are limited by the kinds of equipment it uses to detect and handle them”

3 stocks = 3 “criminal” drunkards from last night.

New York’s Mental Hospital “warehouses” (1955) = 94,000 New Yorkers[2]

New Medicines=the belief that we could cure deviancy that way=1 mental hospital for 100,000 citizens

[Massive Decrease]

(1992)=11,363 New Yorkers [2]

[#images of drug dogs, swat, survaillence, then:]

4,575 current correctional institutions=2,270,142 prisoners

(optional info: “Which is actually greater than the prison system’s official capacity–2,270,142/2,265,000)

The privatization of prisons also incentivizes incarceration.

Locations of private prison centers:

[from 2/3 major private prison companies][11][12]

texas 24

Tennessee 7

Arizona 9

California 8

Florida 8

Georgia 10

Colorado 6

Oklahoma 5

Kentucky 3

New Mexico 6

Indiana 3

Louisiana 3

Mississippi 2

Washington 1

Ohio 2

Montana 1

New York 1

Nevada 1

Pennsylvania 1

New Jersey 1

Idaho 1

North Carolina 1

Virginia 1

Minnesota 1

Kansas 1

D.C. 1

Because states sign contracts agreeing to fill up private prison beds, or pay a monetary penalty.[4]

So even if you aren’t doing anything wrong, they’ll find something to book you for:

[type of offense, percentage of total prisoners.][10]

For Federal Prisons:

Drug Offenses: (46.8 %)

Weapons, Explosives, Arson: (16.4 %)

Immigration: (11.7 %)

Robbery: (4.1 %)

Burglary, Larceny, Property Offenses: (4.1 %)

Extortion, Fraud, Bribery: (5.8 %)

Homicide, Aggravated Assault, and Kidnapping Offenses: (3.0 %)

Miscellaneous: (0.8 %)

Sex Offenses: (6.2 %)

Banking and Insurance, Counterfeit, Embezzlement: (0.4 %)

Courts or Corrections: (0.3 %)

Continuing Criminal Enterprise: (0.3 %)

National Security: (0.0 %)

With well over half the prison population performing victimless crimes.

That’s what it means to be locked up in America.

citations

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