25%

[PigmerikanMao]

I was recently told by my Psychology professor that 25% of Michigan residents are currently incarcerated, and said that per capita, my state has more people in prison than in any other state or nation in the world at any point in history. This doesn't seem real to me- can anybody prove this or was he just yanking my chain? It seems like a pretty outlandish number.
:(

[RedAnarchist]

I don't know how accurate the following information is, but if it is, then your professor is wrong, hopefully. It's a few years out of date, though.


In 2004, Michigan had the 17th highest rate of violent crime among the 50 states (490 incidences per 100,000 residents). The U.S. rate was 466 incidences per 100,000 residents. (FBI, Uniform Crime Reports)
In the same year, there were 3,058 incidences of property crime per 100,000 residents in Michigan – below the U.S. average of 3,517.
Michigan had the 17th highest incarceration rate per capita in 2004 – with 484 prisoners under federal and state jurisdiction per 100,000 residents. The rate of incarceration in Michigan was about at the U.S. average from 1980 to 2004 (see below).

http://www.myonlinemaps.com/michigan.php

[Demogorgon]

According to the Michigan Department Of Corrections website, it is about 2.5% with the majority of those actually under house arrest or similar. 25% would just be insane.

Consider that it is about 1.1% across the United states and that is more than ten times what it is in New Zealand and Britain who are the second and third respectively. That is the highest in history, so to achieve twenty five times that in one of the states would be ridiculous.

[RGacky3]

The prison/justice system in the US is horrible, its extreamly inhumane, and somehow, no one (at least politicians) ever wants to talk about it, its really a shame.

[Pogue]

Are the pigs still really racist against black people over there in the US?

[LOLseph Stalin]

The prison/justice system in the US is horrible, its extreamly inhumane, and somehow, no one (at least politicians) ever wants to talk about it, its really a shame.

The fact that some states still have the death penalty scares the shit out of me. Here in Canada the worse you can get is a life sentence which is about 25 years. Go figure.

[GPDP]

life sentence


25 years

wat

[PigmerikanMao]

Are the pigs still really racist against black people over there in the US?

No, they're really out to get fags and Muslims now, but they attack everyone in the south. I don't think African-Americans are still priority number one, but they are discriminated against.
Maybe he meant that 25% would be jailed in their lifetime, I'm unsure. It's still pretty upsetting either way you look at it. What is it, 3% of the population is homeless too? I love America. :rolleyes:

[Jazzratt]

I misread "incarcerated" as "incinerated" the whole thing seemed far, far more creepy then.

This news (including demomoron's clarifications) is galling but it's not shocking or surprising, at least it shouldn't be with anyone who understands America, incarceration and the institutional obsession with the idea of arrests as "successfully dealing with crime". Of course the whole thing is a fucking joke because prisons turn both inmates and screws into complete bastards - as evidenced by things such as prison rape, savage beatings at the hands of sadistic screws, prison gangs like the Aryan Brotherhood (I think that's what they're called) and all that other bollocks. Justice systems based on throwing alleged criminals into pits full of criminals presided over by psychopaths are doomed to have the overcrowding and reoffending problems evidenced in America.

[Qwerty Dvorak]

wat
That's pretty high for a life sentence. Here in Ireland it's usually much less than 20 years.

[TheCultofAbeLincoln]

Texas' numbers would be a lot higher but a lot of people are only incarcerated for a couple months, until they're executed. It's not even news when someone is executed, unless, of course, they killed a young white girl.

Bu yeah, the pigs down here suck. They're horrible, all their good for is busting people for non-violent crimes. And that right-wing no-income tax bullshit results in huge fines and fees. They shoot, a lot, but most of 'em couldn't hit water if they were sitting in a boat. Now, when you have a critical situation, most of the time they're too fucking stupid to handle it in an intelligent way.

But that's just my observation. I know a couple cops from friends relatives, and they're people to me. Fuck the rest of 'em.

[RGacky3]

The fact that some states still have the death penalty scares the shit out of me. Here in Canada the worse you can get is a life sentence which is about 25 years. Go figure.

Thats a picture of Lenin on your avatar :P.



Are the pigs still really racist against black people over there in the US?


Not really. Not anymore than the general public.

[Bud Struggle]

Are the pigs still really racist against black people over there in the US?

A really good percent of the police ARE Black here in the US. At least in the bigger towns and cities.

On the other hand I work (charity) in the prison system (state prisons--teaching entrepreneurship :))
here in the US and for the most part the crime of incarceration is drugs...either posession (long sentences) or crimes done to purchase drugs. Without the drug laws or even an easing of drong laws the prisons would loose 3/4 of their inmates.

On the other hand there are people in prisons that belong there--you might not see them often in society, but they are concentrated when you see then in jail and they just don't care. They'll kill a 10 year old for a dollar. I've seen a good number of such people in the prison system--and I don't mind them being there at all.