dmcauliffe09
4th October 2008, 09:32
Ok. I guess people had problems with me being so general in my conclusion about prisons and how they are modern-day institutions of slavery. I was thrown a lot of statistics, most of which I already knew. Allow me to now break it down to numbers:
1) America has the highest incarceration rate of ALL NATIONS. 7.2 MILLION people are eiher LOCKED UP, ON PROBATION, or ON PAROLE. Of those 7.2 million people, 2.2 MILLION ARE ACTUALLY IN JAIL/PRISON. We constitute 5% of the world's population and hold 25% of the world's prisoner population.
2) HALF of the prison population is incarcerated for NONVIOLENT offences and another 20% is incarcerated for DRUG RELATED OFFENCES. That means the MAJORITY OF PRISONERS ARE IN PRISON FOR NONVIOLENT ACTS.
3) 67.5% of prisoners released in 1994 were REARRESTED WITHIN 3 YEARS, and 51.8% WERE THROWN BACK IN PRISON. This is because PRISON TURNS MISDEMEANOR CRIMINALS INTO FULL-BLOWN CRIMINALS. When someone is released from prison, they CANNOT FIND WORK BECAUSE MOST EMPLOYERS DO NOT HIRE FELONS. THIS MEANS THEY FIND THEIR INCOME IN OTHER WAYS, USUALLY CRIMINAL.
4) Most people who do end up in prison are there because of economic factors such as UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH that cause them to turn to other means of finding income.
5) Half of the 600,000+ priosners in municipal/county jails are INNOCENT
6) 16% of 2.2 million prisoners are MENTALLY ILL
The following statistics deal with race, and as a black male, I am not at all surprised:
1) Black males are 3 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO BE ARRESTED THAN HISPANIC MALES, and 5 TIMES MORE LIKELY THAN WHITE MALES.
2) In 2006, there were 409 WHITE MALES INCARCERATED PER 100,000. For Latinos, this number was a SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER 1,039. For BLACK MALES, THIS NUMBER WAS 2,468.
3) Because such a high number of black and Latino males are "convicted felons," they constitute a high percentage of people who CANNOT VOTE. Therefore, with NO JOBS AND NO SAY IN WHAT GOES ON, many black and Latino men return to their old lifestyles after they come home from prison. It's not only that not enough black people register to vote, but even if they are eligible, many of them would loose that right because they would be convicted of a felony.
The following shows how prisons exploit rather than rehabilitate
1) The 13th Amendment ("Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime where of the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction") basically allows "involuntary solitude" to be enforced upon those convicted of a crime where such servitude is deemed acceptable. This means big money for businesses that invest in prisons, because they get cheap labor, don't have to worry about strikes or vacation pay, etc., because all of the workers are PRISONERS. This is clear exploitation under a corrupt system.
2) Because they benefit from more work from more prisoners, stockholders in businesses who do business in prisons lobby for longer sentences so that they are in no danger of loosing their money.
I'm sure there are many more numbers people will throw at me and ask me how I intend to rehabilitate rather than punish. Let me be general again: rehabilitation benefits society and the prisoner, and that's whay the focus should be on rehabilitation rather than punishment. I don't know how I can change that, because the majority of the American people don't care that prisoners are being exploted, which means the majority would say "Go ahead and punish them. They're scum." Well, okay, maybe if you didn't throw them in jail for 5 years on a drug possession charge and pretty much seal the deal that says "Sign here to become a real criminal once you get out of here," there wouldn't be so much "scum" out there. As Immortal Technique said, "Open your eyes before you die!"
1) America has the highest incarceration rate of ALL NATIONS. 7.2 MILLION people are eiher LOCKED UP, ON PROBATION, or ON PAROLE. Of those 7.2 million people, 2.2 MILLION ARE ACTUALLY IN JAIL/PRISON. We constitute 5% of the world's population and hold 25% of the world's prisoner population.
2) HALF of the prison population is incarcerated for NONVIOLENT offences and another 20% is incarcerated for DRUG RELATED OFFENCES. That means the MAJORITY OF PRISONERS ARE IN PRISON FOR NONVIOLENT ACTS.
3) 67.5% of prisoners released in 1994 were REARRESTED WITHIN 3 YEARS, and 51.8% WERE THROWN BACK IN PRISON. This is because PRISON TURNS MISDEMEANOR CRIMINALS INTO FULL-BLOWN CRIMINALS. When someone is released from prison, they CANNOT FIND WORK BECAUSE MOST EMPLOYERS DO NOT HIRE FELONS. THIS MEANS THEY FIND THEIR INCOME IN OTHER WAYS, USUALLY CRIMINAL.
4) Most people who do end up in prison are there because of economic factors such as UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH that cause them to turn to other means of finding income.
5) Half of the 600,000+ priosners in municipal/county jails are INNOCENT
6) 16% of 2.2 million prisoners are MENTALLY ILL
The following statistics deal with race, and as a black male, I am not at all surprised:
1) Black males are 3 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO BE ARRESTED THAN HISPANIC MALES, and 5 TIMES MORE LIKELY THAN WHITE MALES.
2) In 2006, there were 409 WHITE MALES INCARCERATED PER 100,000. For Latinos, this number was a SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER 1,039. For BLACK MALES, THIS NUMBER WAS 2,468.
3) Because such a high number of black and Latino males are "convicted felons," they constitute a high percentage of people who CANNOT VOTE. Therefore, with NO JOBS AND NO SAY IN WHAT GOES ON, many black and Latino men return to their old lifestyles after they come home from prison. It's not only that not enough black people register to vote, but even if they are eligible, many of them would loose that right because they would be convicted of a felony.
The following shows how prisons exploit rather than rehabilitate
1) The 13th Amendment ("Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime where of the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction") basically allows "involuntary solitude" to be enforced upon those convicted of a crime where such servitude is deemed acceptable. This means big money for businesses that invest in prisons, because they get cheap labor, don't have to worry about strikes or vacation pay, etc., because all of the workers are PRISONERS. This is clear exploitation under a corrupt system.
2) Because they benefit from more work from more prisoners, stockholders in businesses who do business in prisons lobby for longer sentences so that they are in no danger of loosing their money.
I'm sure there are many more numbers people will throw at me and ask me how I intend to rehabilitate rather than punish. Let me be general again: rehabilitation benefits society and the prisoner, and that's whay the focus should be on rehabilitation rather than punishment. I don't know how I can change that, because the majority of the American people don't care that prisoners are being exploted, which means the majority would say "Go ahead and punish them. They're scum." Well, okay, maybe if you didn't throw them in jail for 5 years on a drug possession charge and pretty much seal the deal that says "Sign here to become a real criminal once you get out of here," there wouldn't be so much "scum" out there. As Immortal Technique said, "Open your eyes before you die!"