Something is wrong. 230 million adult Americans are in jail, with a disproportionately higher number of hispanic and black men.
For the first time in the nation’s history, more than one in 100 American adults is behind bars, according to a new report.
Incarceration rates are even higher for some groups. One in 36 Hispanic adults is behind bars, based on Justice Department figures for 2006. One in 15 black adults is, too, as is one in nine black men between the ages of 20 and 34.
The report, from the Pew Center on the States, also found that only one in 355 white women between the ages of 35 and 39 are behind bars but that one in 100 black women are.
And based on the stats below, violent crimes have fallen over the past 20 years, but spending has increased.
In the past 20 years, according the Federal Bureau of Investigation, violent crime rates fell by 25 percent, to 464 for every 100,000 people in 2007 from 612.5 in 1987.
In 2007, according to the National Association of State Budgeting Officers, states spent $44 billion in tax dollars on corrections. That is up from $10.6 billion in 1987, a 127 increase once adjusted for inflation.
The prison system industry appears to be extremely profitable. If I didn't know better, I'd think the predominately white-owned prison industry and predominately white-run law system were working together to maximize profits.
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