Mass Incarceration In The United States
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Peter Kropotkin
Peter Kropotkin
Justice Anthony Kennedy
Justice Anthony Kennedy
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Primary Resource: Text: Background
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The US has 5% of the world’s population and 25% of the world’s prisoners
“The US has 5% of the world’s population and 25% of the world’s prisoners. Moreover, nearly 90% of prisoners are jailed for nonviolent offenses, often casualties of the so-called drug war....We are rapidly approaching rates of incarceration associated with the likes of Hitler and Stalin....The sheer quantity of prisoners is not the half of it. Recent research suggests that a significant minority of those behind bars may well be innocent....In addition, the conditions inside the prisons themselves tend far too often to be reprehensible and grotesque, in a manner that violates any civilized notion of legitimate incarceration.” Rich Media, Poor Democracy, McChesney, xx (See references noted in text.)
There are 2.1 million prisoners in the U.S. Prison population has quadrupled in the last 20 years.
‘Minority youth are more likely to go to prison than to college.’ (In the U.S.) David Korten
Tens of thousands of poor people are jailed illegally
Tens of thousands of poor people – disproportionately minorities – languish in federal prison on sentences declared by the courts, and even the president himself, to be illegal and unjustifiable.
President Obama’s Department of Injustice, by ALEC KARAKATSANISAUG. 18, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/18/opinion/president-obamas-department-of-injustice.html
As of 2013, there were 133,000 state and federal prisoners housed in privately owned prisons in the U.S., constituting 8.4% of the overall U.S. prison population. This means 91.6% are in government run prisons.
Background
The US has 5% of the world’s population and 25% of the world’s prisoners
“The US has 5% of the world’s population and 25% of the world’s prisoners. Moreover, nearly 90% of prisoners are jailed for nonviolent offenses, often casualties of the so-called drug war....We are rapidly approaching rates of incarceration associated with the likes of Hitler and Stalin....The sheer quantity of prisoners is not the half of it. Recent research suggests that a significant minority of those behind bars may well be innocent....In addition, the conditions inside the prisons themselves tend far too often to be reprehensible and grotesque, in a manner that violates any civilized notion of legitimate incarceration.” Rich Media, Poor Democracy, McChesney, xx (See references noted in text.)
There are 2.1 million prisoners in the U.S. Prison population has quadrupled in the last 20 years.
‘Minority youth are more likely to go to prison than to college.’ (In the U.S.) David Korten
Tens of thousands of poor people are jailed illegally
Tens of thousands of poor people – disproportionately minorities – languish in federal prison on sentences declared by the courts, and even the president himself, to be illegal and unjustifiable.
President Obama’s Department of Injustice, by ALEC KARAKATSANISAUG. 18, 2015
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/18/opinion/president-obamas-department-of-injustice.html
As of 2013, there were 133,000 state and federal prisoners housed in privately owned prisons in the U.S., constituting 8.4% of the overall U.S. prison population. This means 91.6% are in government run prisons.
Misc
Primary Resource: Text: Within every prison now you have huge for profit concerns
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“If you’re a poor person of color and you live in a de-industrialized section of a city, you’re worth nothing. Your body is worth nothing to corporations, on the street. But if you’re locked in a cage you can generate $50 or $60,000 a year. So prisons for me are an important window into the intention of these corporations.”
“Within every prison now you have huge for profit concerns.” Phone, food, medical services. They charge prisoners for every visit. One million prisoners work for for profit companies, about 25 cents an hour.
Within every prison now you have huge for profit concerns
“If you’re a poor person of color and you live in a de-industrialized section of a city, you’re worth nothing. Your body is worth nothing to corporations, on the street. But if you’re locked in a cage you can generate $50 or $60,000 a year. So prisons for me are an important window into the intention of these corporations.”
“Within every prison now you have huge for profit concerns.” Phone, food, medical services. They charge prisoners for every visit. One million prisoners work for for profit companies, about 25 cents an hour.
Chris Hedges, August, 2018, KBOO, Progressive Spirit
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