The US prison population, already the largest in the world, reached a new high of more than 2.1 million last year, with one in every 138 residents of the country now behind bars, according to new government statistics.
The data, made public by the Bureau of Justice Statistics on Sunday, put the US far ahead of countries like China and Russia, whose combined population is about five times that of the US.
"The numbers are pretty consistent with what they have been in the last few years," Justice Department statistician Paige Harrison, a co-author of the report, said.
"We are seeing continued growth in prisons and jails, but at a lower rate than we had about 10 years ago," Harrison said.
The study shows the number of inmates across the country rose an estimated 48,452 people, or 2.3 percent, in the 12-month period ending on June 30, 2004.
In other words, the system was adding to its ranks on average 932 individuals every week.
The rate of incarceration reached a record of 726 inmates per 100,000 residents -- up from 716 a year earlier.
By comparison, the current incarceration rate in Britain is 142 per 100,000 citizens, in China 118, in France 91, in Japan 58, and in Nigeria 31, according to the Justice Policy Institute, an independent research organization.
drug offenders
US federal prisons that house the most drug offenders accounted for the largest increase of the prison population -- 6.3 percent.
Thirteen states reported increases in the number of those incarcerated of at least five percent, led by Minnesota, which boosted its prison roll by 13.2 percent, Montana, up by 10.5 percent, and Arkansas, up by 8.9 percent.
While the number of female prisoners increased by 2.9 percent, American men were overall 11 times more likely to end up behind bars than women: the incarceration rate among the male population was 1,348 per 100,000 residents.
African-American men
But the situation was even more startling in the African-American community. A total of 12.6 percent of black males in their late twenties were now officially in prison, compared to 3.6 percent of Hispanics and about 1.7 percent of whites, the report showed.
Although incarceration rates dropped with age, the percentage of jailed black males aged between 45 and 54 was an estimated 4.5 percent -- more than twice the highest rate among white males.
The number of foreigners held in state or federal prisons increased 1.4 percent, reaching 91,789, according to the study.
violent crime
The report follows the release by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of new statistics indicating that violent crime went down two percent in the US in the first six months of last year, with murders dropping 5.7 percent.
The two sets of data have immediately prompted members of the administration and other supporters of President George W. Bush to assert that the main reason crime was going down was because more criminals were being taken off the streets.
"We have also had a change in parole release and revocation policies, which increase the chance of parole violators coming back," Harrison noted.
underlying factors
But Jason Ziedenberg, executive director of the Justice Policy Institute, pointed to the need to address the underlying issues of unemployment, poverty and education in order to reduce the number of inmates while also keeping crime down.
"Unless we promote alternatives to prison, the nation will continue to lead the world in imprisonment," he said in a statement.
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
VENEZUELAN ACTION: Marco Rubio said that previous US interdiction efforts have not stemmed the flow of illicit drugs into the US and that ‘blowing them up’ would US President Donald Trump on Wednesday justified a lethal military strike that his administration said was carried out a day earlier against a Venezuelan gang as a necessary effort by the US to send a message to Latin American cartels. Asked why the military did not instead interdict the vessel and capture those on board, Trump said that the operation would cause drug smugglers to think twice about trying to move drugs into the US. “There was massive amounts of drugs coming into our country to kill a lot of people and everybody fully understands that,” Trump said while hosting Polish President
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
A French couple kept Louise, a playful black panther, in an apartment in northern France, triggering panic when she was spotted roaming nearby rooftops. The pair were were handed suspended jail sentences on Thursday for illegally keeping a wild animal, despite protesting that they saw Louise as their baby. The ruling follows a September 2019 incident when the months-old feline was seen roaming a rooftop in Armentieres after slipping out of the couple’s window. Authorities captured the panther by sedating her with anesthetic darts after she entered a home. No injuries were reported during the animal’s time on the loose. The court in the
RSS