Why does the United States have the largest prison population in the world ?

[the other mike]

 

[the other mike]

 

[healthmyths]

Probably because the USA has the most lawyers...



.

A very real possibility.

Too Many Lawyers: The Legal Profession Needs A Cull



How the Fuck Are There Too Many Lawyers?
Alright, so a while back I wrote in a post about how there were approximately 1,315,000 licensed and practicing attorneys in the United States. There are roughly 321,400,000 people in general in the United States. That comes out to about 1 lawyer for every 244 people in the United States. That means that when you’re in a crowded theater, you’re guaranteed to be sitting in a room with at least 1-3 lawyers, depending on the size of the venue. If someone trips down the stairs at a 30,000 stadium from a little too much beer, 122 lawyers could come rushing out the woodwork to hand out business cards.

And these lawyers directly affect the health care industry cost!

 

[JWBooth]

Why does the United States have the largest prison population in the world ?

I dunno, way too many things are arrestable offenses?

 

[hjmick]

 

[2aguy]

It’s no secret that the U.S. incarcerates a shocking number of swaths of its own people, primarily the poor and people of color. With 2.3 million Americans currently being held in prisons, the country has the largest prison population in the world. But even as awareness of mass incarceration grows, two crucial questions remain at the heart of the debate on prison reform: Why does the U.S. imprison so many people, and how do we change our toxic approach? These are the issues Tony Platt, author of “Beyond These Walls: Rethinking Crime and Punishment in the United States,” and Truthdig Editor in Chief Robert Scheer discuss in the latest installment of “Scheer Intelligence.”

(snip)....There’s a tendency these days for people to say the United States proportionally incarcerates more people than any other country in the world. I don’t know if that’s true. I just don’t think we know what the real situation is in China and Russia, which are the big competitors in incarceration. I think the U.S. is in the ballpark; I think the U.S. is close. When you compare the U.S. with Canada or Australia or New Zealand, or France and England, then there’s no contest. There’s no other country that’s comparable to the United States in terms of its political economy that puts as many people away, that hires as many cops, and invests as much money in repression as this country does.

CONTINUED---https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-liberal-betrayal-of-americas-most-vulnerable/

If every American had to do 30 days to get a taste of what it's like inside, we would put an end to this mass incarceration real fast. You don't realize how bad it is until it happens to someone close to you. Out of sight- out of mind....2.3 million forgotten souls living in hell.

Wrong, we lock up people who break the law. Sadly, that means the majority of those in prison come from homes that are fatherless, raised by single teenage mothers......and right now with an over 75% out of wedlock birthrate, that means a larger number of Blacks are in prison...........fix those families and you will reduce the prison population. It isn't racism, it is fatherless homes...

 

[Anathema]

I dunno, way too many things are arrestable offenses?

Not at all. Just too few people willing to follow the law.

 

[Cellblock2429]

The answer, of course, is racism. Do we really need an excuse to incarcerate our innocent black and hispanic population?

Flood the streets with drugs and guns, then lock them up with felonies so when they get out they can't vote or get a decent job and 70 percent wind up back inside.

/—-/ They could vote and get a decent job BEFORE they committed the felonies.

 

[the other mike]

/—-/ They could vote and get a decent job BEFORE they committed the felonies.

Many "felonies" should be misdemeanors also.

 

[Anathema]

Many "felonies" should be misdemeanors also.

You have that backwards.

We also need to change sentencing guidelines...

All felonies should receive the Death Pebalty. All misdemeanor convictions should carry a life in prison sentence.

 

[anynameyouwish]

I’m
Going to jail this week for 6 years.. and I’m white

Nobody goes to jail for six years. You're going to prison. The longest I've ever been incarcerated is 8 months.

What the hell did you do anyways?

Beat up some libtards last year might have violated probation

If this isn't a joke I am truly sorry you are a piece of shit.

Post your prison address and we will send you some very slippery soap.

 

[Jitss617]

I’m
Going to jail this week for 6 years.. and I’m white

Nobody goes to jail for six years. You're going to prison. The longest I've ever been incarcerated is 8 months.

What the hell did you do anyways?

Beat up some libtards last year might have violated probation

If this isn't a joke I am truly sorry you are a piece of shit.

Post your prison address and we will send you some very slippery soap.

If they give me internet access I will lol

 

[Muhammed]

I’m
Going to jail this week for 6 years.. and I’m white

Nobody goes to jail for six years. You're going to prison. The longest I've ever been incarcerated is 8 months.

What the hell did you do anyways?

Beat up some libtards last year might have violated probation

If this isn't a joke I am truly sorry you are a piece of shit.

Post your prison address and we will send you some very slippery soap.

If they give me internet access I will lol

Internet access???

I don't think you have any clue how much your life is about to change. You might want to adjust your attitude before you get there.

 

[Jitss617]

I’m
Going to jail this week for 6 years.. and I’m white

Nobody goes to jail for six years. You're going to prison. The longest I've ever been incarcerated is 8 months.

What the hell did you do anyways?

Beat up some libtards last year might have violated probation

If this isn't a joke I am truly sorry you are a piece of shit.

Post your prison address and we will send you some very slippery soap.

If they give me internet access I will lol

Internet access???

I don't think have any clue how much your life is about to change. You might want to adjust your attitude before you get there.

I been TO jail before little buddy.. and I’m pretty sure I didn’t violate thank god

 

[NoVote]

Why does the United States have the largest prison population in the world ?

Because most politicians think a killer can be "SAVED", so we retired Old Sparky and just keep them locked up instead of Killing them. Other countries get it.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Why does the United States have the largest prison population in the world ?

I dunno, way too many things are arrestable offenses?

Being arrested is one thing. You get arrested just for having one too many drinks and driving, or getting into a heated argument with your spouse. But being sentenced to prison is quite another.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Remember the 3 strike law, one big reason for the mess.

The US has so many prisoners because one state created the Three Strikes Law?

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Considering that we have a large diverse population. Considering we have one of the few countries that allows as many freedoms. It is a wonder we do not have more crime then we do.

I agree. There are over 300 million Americans and I'm surprised there aren't more criminals than there are.

When you have that many people in one country you are bound to have more criminals.

Correct, but I think the point being made here is percentage wise, we do have more of our population locked up than any other industrialized country in the world. IMO, most of that is because of our diversity.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Easy, because we criminalize everything. When you criminalize all behavior, you make criminals out of all mankind.

So what is currently criminalized that should't be? I'm talking about criminalized that puts you in prison.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

It’s no secret that the U.S. incarcerates a shocking number of swaths of its own people, primarily the poor and people of color. With 2.3 million Americans currently being held in prisons, the country has the largest prison population in the world. But even as awareness of mass incarceration grows, two crucial questions remain at the heart of the debate on prison reform: Why does the U.S. imprison so many people, and how do we change our toxic approach? These are the issues Tony Platt, author of “Beyond These Walls: Rethinking Crime and Punishment in the United States,” and Truthdig Editor in Chief Robert Scheer discuss in the latest installment of “Scheer Intelligence.”

(snip)....There’s a tendency these days for people to say the United States proportionally incarcerates more people than any other country in the world. I don’t know if that’s true. I just don’t think we know what the real situation is in China and Russia, which are the big competitors in incarceration. I think the U.S. is in the ballpark; I think the U.S. is close. When you compare the U.S. with Canada or Australia or New Zealand, or France and England, then there’s no contest. There’s no other country that’s comparable to the United States in terms of its political economy that puts as many people away, that hires as many cops, and invests as much money in repression as this country does.

CONTINUED---https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-liberal-betrayal-of-americas-most-vulnerable/

If every American had to do 30 days to get a taste of what it's like inside, we would put an end to this mass incarceration real fast. You don't realize how bad it is until it happens to someone close to you. Out of sight- out of mind....2.3 million forgotten souls living in hell.

You have to decide whether you want a lot of people in prison, or a very high unsolved crime rate. We fortunately have the best investigators in the world, so we catch a lot more criminals than other countries. Our high prison rates are a good thing.

Although I somewhat agree with you I also think the time should fit the crime.
Young people experimenting with drugs is nothing new. If private owned prisons were around back then at least 7 out of 10 in the 60s & 70s would have went to prison.
I am totally against any private run prison system.
America is not what it use to be when capitalism was capitalism before big biz took over our nation and dictated their wishes to our corrupt leadership on both parties.
I don't and never have liked or did drugs so no bias.

There is the problem with your theory: Currently judges are pressured to send only the most violent offenders or repeat offenders to prison. Why? Because we have such little prison space to put them. At least over here, that resulted in more serious crimes because an offender just clipped off their ankle bracelet and decided to get even with the person(s) responsible for their conviction even though it was house arrest.

In short, private prisons are not looking for more prisoners, and even if they were, our police, judges or juries would not be part of the action. The problem in the US is not too few offenders of law, our problem is too many.