In both actual and per capita terms, the United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world. The figures for incarceration are staggering.
The number of prisoners held in 214 countries is reported. Over 9.25 million people are incarcerated, with almost 50% held in the U.S., followed by China, then Russia. The U.S. has the highest prison population rate of 738 per 100,000 of its national population, well above Russia (611 per 100,000). Rates below 150 per 100,000 are experienced by 61% of the countries reviewed.
Incarceration seems to be this country's answer to most social problems from substance abuse, to enforcement of child support, to driving without a license. It also disproportinately abuses, the mentally ill, the socially disadvantaged, those who suffer from substance abuse and oppressed members of our society. The U.S. prison system is a repository for the failings of the country's social welfare system.
The policy of incarcerting, has by its own measaures, been an abject failure and it has destroyed the lives of millions of people who do not deserve incarceration. As well, the costs of these failed policies are astronomical. The most glaring example of this failure is the so-called "war on drugs." Not only have we lost the so-called war, we are seeing blowback in the form of exploding violence in supplying countries like Mexico, which supplies the drugs for the U.S. market and receives the assault rifles and weapons used by the drug cartels. But the purpose of this post is to demonstrate that we cannot continue to incarcerate increasing numbers of people nor should we, as a moral imperative, allow our government to continue to use the criminal justice system to "resolve" what are, in essence, social problems. And a large part of resolving this matter is to decriminalize the use of marijuana, the concerted use of drug diversion programs and the decriminalization of other social ills.
The U.S. Department of Justice provides a wealth of statistics on crime and incarceration. Drug offenses have been a large part, although not the only one, of the tremendous increase in incarceration. Although, I would argue, that the criminal justice system is as much a function of maintining a race-based class system. According to the Department of Justice:
* Drug offenders, up 37%, represented the largest source of jail population growth between 1996 and 2002.
* More than two-thirds of the growth in inmates held in local jails for drug law violations was due to an increase in persons charged with drug trafficking.
* In 2000, an estimated 57% of Federal inmates and 21% of State inmates were serving a sentence for a drug offense; about 10% of Federal inmates and 49% of State inmates were in prison for a violent offense.
* Drug offenders accounted for 59% of the growth in Federal prisons.
* Three out of every four convicted jail inmates were alcohol or drugs-involved at the time of their current offense.
But the hammer of incarceration does not fall proportionally on all Americans. African-American males represent a staggering disproportion of the incarcerated. Again, figures from the Department of Justice:
* At midyear 2008, there were 4,777 black male inmates per 100,000 black males held in state and federal prisons and local jails, compared to 1,760 Hispanic male inmates per 100,000 Hispanic males and 727 white male inmates per 100,000 white males. (Ed. Emphasis)
* The prevalence of imprisonment in 2001 was higher for
-- black males (16.6%) and Hispanic males (7.7%) than for white males (2.6%)
-- black females (1.7%) and Hispanic females (0.7%) than white females (0.3%)
* Lifetime chances of a person going to prison are higher for -- men (11.3%) than for women (1.8%) -- blacks (18.6%) and Hispanics (10%) than for whites (3.4%)
* Based on current rates of first incarceration, an estimated 32% of black males will enter State or Federal prison during their lifetime, compared to 17% of Hispanic males and 5.9% of white males. (Ed. Emphasis)
* Sixty-four percent of prison inmates belonged to racial or ethnic minorities in 2001.
* More than 6 in 10 persons in local jails in 2002 were racial or ethnic minorities, unchanged from 1996.
* An estimated 40% were black; 19%, Hispanic, 1% American Indian; 1% Asian; and 3% of more than one race/ethnicity.
* At midyear 2008, there were 4,777 black male inmates per 100,000 black males held in state and federal prisons and local jails, compared to 1,760 Hispanic male inmates per 100,000 Hispanic males and 727 white male inmates per 100,000 white males.
As one can see from this summary of DOJ statistics, drug offenses make up a great number of incarcerations and those incarcerated are disproportionately from minority communities. To think that this level of incarceration is doing anything to make us safer or to lower the consumption of legal and illegal substances is sheer folly. The failure of the policy is not only in failing to achieve its stated objectives but also in the costs that it imposes on society. Again from the Department of Justice:
Personnel
* As of September 2004, state and local law enforcement agencies had 1,076,897 full-time personnel, 5.6% more than the 1,019,496 employed in 2000. From 2000 to 2004 the number of full-time sworn personnel increased from 708,022 to 731,903.
* As of June 2003, local police departments had 580,749 full-time employees including about 451,737 sworn personnel. Sheriffs' offices had 330,274 full-time employees, including about 174,251 sworn personnel.
* From 1987 to 2003 minority representation among local police officers increased from 14.6% to 23.6%. In sheriffs' offices, minorities accounted for 18.8% of sworn personnel in 2003 compared to 13.4% in 1987.
* From 1996 to 2000, total employment by local police departments was up an average of 2.1% per year. Sheriffs' offices increased their number of employees by 3.5% per year.
Operating Expenditures
* In 2003, local police departments cost about $93,300 per sworn officer and $200 per resident to operate for the year. Sheriffs' offices cost about $124,400 per officer and $82 per resident for the year. (Ed. emphasis).
Hence, the operating costs of law enforcement alone are staggering. But so is the cost of incarceration.
It cost an average of $23,876 dollars to imprison someone in 2005, the most recent year for which data were available. But state spending varies widely, from $45,000 a year in Rhode Island to $13,000 in Louisiana.
The cost of medical care is growing by 10 percent annually, the report said, and will accelerate as the prison population ages.
About one in nine state government employees works in corrections, and some states are finding it hard to fill those jobs. California spent more than $500 million on overtime alone in 2006.
The Pew Center on the States has issued a number of reports detailing the disturbing numbers and concludes.
As a nation, the United States has long anchored it's punishment policy in bricks and mortar. The tangible feel of a jail or a prison, with its surefire incapacitation of convicts, has been an unquestioned weapon of choicein the battle against crime. Recent studies show, however, that a continual increase in our reliance on incarceration will pay declining dividents in crime prevention. In short, experts say, expanding prisons will accomplish less and cost more than in the past.
Meanwhile, the breathtaking rise in correctional costs is triggering alarm in statehouses around the nation. By inevitably reducing the amount of tax dollars that are available for other vital needs, relentless prison growth is drawing closer scrutiny from lawmakersand the public. In some states, that scrutiny has evolved into action, producing encouraging results both for public safety and public spending. These states are finding that by broadening the mix of sanctions in their correctional tool box, they can save money and still make lawbreakers pay.
Needless to say, the Pew Center authors, are basing their recommendations on a pragmatic basis. I would argue that, aside from the utter failure of the policy, there is something morally wrong in a majority population incarcerating so many others of a different race or ethnic group. In other words, the criminal justice system is the most evident manifestation of institutional racism. This social injustice must be remedied. No longer can we use the canard of crime to oppress the powerless.
In follow-up posts I will be making the case that decriminalization coupled with social programs aimed at addressing the social problems is our only solution, if we are to survive as a fully functional civil society and as a democracy.