Americans in Prison (page 3)

Think About It

But people being imprisoned for stealing food and stuff? Isn't that like something out of Les Miserables? What century are we in?

I would venture to guess it's probably punishable by imprisonment to steal food and stuffs in Canada also.

MinisterAmos

The US spends dramatically more on locking people up than it does on educating them

Wanna bet? The nation's primary schools (5-16 years old generally) spent $10,165 per student per year. Most students (except for the wealthiest) will qualify for Pell Grants (federal), State grants, and low interest government insured loans to complete uni.

Incarceration costs more per head per year, obviously, but I'm not sure how the two can be compared since the objectives are so divergent. In any event the statement is patently false on its face.

It gets cloudier when one considers that education for trades and high school equivalancy degrees are offered free to all in prision.

Mum

The situation is sick. The guy who killed Polly Klaas should have been locked up for good. Others are in for many years because they were carrying around some marijuana.

On the topic of stealing food and Les Miserables, I once worked for an attorney who had a client accused of food stamp fraud. This poor woman was a single parent working for minimum wage and supporting her child as well as her mother, and, somehow, she managed to get "too many" food stamps?! I was appalled!

usualusername

The one thing I hate about British justice is being fined for careless driving resulting in someone dying. Never understood that!

Simon

I would venture to guess it's probably punishable by imprisonment to steal food and stuffs in Canada also.

Possibly, but not LIFE !

Incarceration costs more per head per year

Exactly - the point is, it's more effective to prevent crime investing in social programmes and education. But that isn't their intent - they want to lock people up because they are a cheap source of labor and because policing, law enforcement and the legal system is an industry.

Given that most are black ... isn't this slavery?

trebor

Trebor would you murder someone?

My first response is "no". Then, as I've come to realize in life, never say definitely "no" to many things. You know, like asking me 10 years ago if I ever would "leave Jehovah's Witnesses".

Would you eat the body (parts/insides) of other human beings? Most would say no, even those prior to being trapped in an iced-over mountain with no other way to survive. Some may be surprised what a person, or what they, would or could do.

Some may be almost just as surprised what a parent would do if someone hurt their child; especially if that child was kidnapped, and let's be honest here, more than likely sexually molested by this "person".

I'm not saying in hindsight or even logically it is the right thing to do. What I am saying is with the circumstances provided, I can more than understand and relate to the man doing what he did and not serving jail time for doing so. I would also be lying to say I wouldn't react in a similar way if it were my child.

JeffT

The US spends dramatically more on locking people up than it does on educating them.

I can't find numbers that support that position, although I hit lots of websites that say so.

The most expensive prison system in the country is California's at 50k per prisoner. If that rate applied to all 2 million prisoners that would be 100 billion.

http://warincontext.org/2011/11/01/why-does-the-u-s-spend-more-on-prisons-than-higher-education/

The Federal Government alone spends 98 billion a year on education.

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/us_education_spending_20.html

usualusername

Is saying Bloody hell to 198 billion spent on prisoners allowed?

JeffT

My bad, I hit submit to fast. The last line is 98 billion from the feds for education. I just edited the line. The states and localities obviously add to that. As I mentioned I can find a lot of sites that say we spend more on prisons, I can't find one with real numbers.

Another edit, as a recovering alcoholic I have for some time advocated treating drug offenses like simple possession as a medical problem not a legal problem. Prisons should be for real criminals, not potheads.

Americans in Prison

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