One out of every 75 men in the U.S. is in prison. Isn't that a pretty high percentage? http://news.yahoo.com/fc?tmpl=fc&cid=34&in=us&cat=prisons
The US has always had a bad reputation for chucking people in prison.(By western standards)
The one I found unreal was if you stole a car three times, you got life...
(That 'three strikes and you're out' thingy)
I don't know if you still have it nowadays btw.
Nevada has a bunch of people who got life for cheating at casinos!
wtf is THAT all about.
Glad I don't live in the USA...don't care how many zillions of dollars u have.
The one I found unreal was if you stole a car three times, you got life...
(That 'three strikes and you're out' thingy)
I don't know if you still have it nowadays btw.
Nevada has a bunch of people who got life for cheating at casinos!
wtf is THAT all about.
Glad I don't live in the USA...don't care how many zillions of dollars u have.
Put em all in jail.
SALT LAKE CITY May 27 2004 --A suburban junior high math teacher was arrested Thursday for allegedly threatening to go on a shooting rampage if she did not get the assignments she wanted, police said.
Sandra Wariner, 57, was taken into custody while on her lunch break at a fast food restaurant, and charged with making a terroristic threat.
Principal Steve Lindsay notified police after Wariner allegedly threatened to return to Bountiful Junior High School with a shotgun and open fire at him, students, and other teachers, said Bountiful police Lt. Steve Gray.
"What she was concerned about was the classes she was teaching in the fall," Davis School District spokesman Chris Williams said.
Wariner was apparently talking with teachers in the faculty lounge when Lindsay walked in and the comments were made, Williams said.
"He felt threatened to the point that he had to take some action so he called police," Williams said.
Police searched Wariner's home and confiscated a shotgun and a .357-caliber revolver, Gray said.
Wariner, who teaches various math courses, has been with the district on and off since 1974, and steadily since 1987, Williams said.
SALT LAKE CITY May 27 2004 --A suburban junior high math teacher was arrested Thursday for allegedly threatening to go on a shooting rampage if she did not get the assignments she wanted, police said.
Sandra Wariner, 57, was taken into custody while on her lunch break at a fast food restaurant, and charged with making a terroristic threat.
Principal Steve Lindsay notified police after Wariner allegedly threatened to return to Bountiful Junior High School with a shotgun and open fire at him, students, and other teachers, said Bountiful police Lt. Steve Gray.
"What she was concerned about was the classes she was teaching in the fall," Davis School District spokesman Chris Williams said.
Wariner was apparently talking with teachers in the faculty lounge when Lindsay walked in and the comments were made, Williams said.
"He felt threatened to the point that he had to take some action so he called police," Williams said.
Police searched Wariner's home and confiscated a shotgun and a .357-caliber revolver, Gray said.
Wariner, who teaches various math courses, has been with the district on and off since 1974, and steadily since 1987, Williams said.
The numbers are correct - the problem lies with mandatory sentence guidlines that judges have to follow. The US has 6 times the the amount of male prisoners as does Canada PER CAPITA. IMO there is not such an enormous difference in lifestyles between the two countries to account for such a gap.
wil.
wil.
Some of the sentences are crazy. I saw the story about guys in prison for cheating at casinos ....life? I know they want to set examples ..but geez ...give them 10-15 years or something ....they can only do that 3-4 times right? ....before they are too old or dead. Some drug sentences are crazy .....let them out when they are 55 or 60 years old (if violent crimes were not committed with their drug offenses).
I agree with the 3 strike felony rule. Think about it. One felony arrest, alright you made a mistake, don't do it again. Second felony arrest, now that's just plain stupid and you are starting to look like loser that doesn't belong in society. Third felony arrest your'e a certified fkup, not smart enough to not get caught and your'e habitual. Lock your ass up for life you don't belong in a free society. Lock em up. I don't care. Only criminals are against the 3 strikes law. The rest of us have nothing to worry about. Drug laws should be ammended to only trafficking and sales=felonies.
Eek,
Just wondering...what would you suggest as punishment for a guy that steals a car on 3 separate occasions? I agree putting him in prison for life is not good because it costs the rest of us too much money. Instead I think chopping off both hands in a public ceremony would be about right -- preferably done by the guys whose cars he stole. It's much cheaper to society and could even be a greater deterrent.
Of course the victims could replace it with a lighter punishment if they wanted. I know I'd be there with my sharpened cleaver and a big smile that's for sure.
If we tolerate stealing we might as well tolerate murder, torture and rape as well, don't you think?
Just wondering...what would you suggest as punishment for a guy that steals a car on 3 separate occasions? I agree putting him in prison for life is not good because it costs the rest of us too much money. Instead I think chopping off both hands in a public ceremony would be about right -- preferably done by the guys whose cars he stole. It's much cheaper to society and could even be a greater deterrent.
Of course the victims could replace it with a lighter punishment if they wanted. I know I'd be there with my sharpened cleaver and a big smile that's for sure.
If we tolerate stealing we might as well tolerate murder, torture and rape as well, don't you think?
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Darryl Parsons:
Eek,
Just wondering...what would you suggest as punishment for a guy that steals a car on 3 separate occasions? I agree putting him in prison for life is not good because it costs the rest of us too much money. Instead I think chopping off both hands in a public ceremony would be about right -- preferably done by the guys whose cars he stole. It's much cheaper to society and could even be a greater deterrent.
Of course the victims could replace it with a lighter punishment if they wanted. I know I'd be there with my sharpened cleaver and a big smile that's for sure.
If we tolerate stealing we might as well tolerate murder, torture and rape as well, don't you think?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Its not a case of tolerating anything illegal, its a case of reasonable punishment.
Time spent in the pokey is sufficient for theft.
You get LIFE for crimes against the person, murder, rape etc, not for pinching a stupid motor car.
Eek,
Just wondering...what would you suggest as punishment for a guy that steals a car on 3 separate occasions? I agree putting him in prison for life is not good because it costs the rest of us too much money. Instead I think chopping off both hands in a public ceremony would be about right -- preferably done by the guys whose cars he stole. It's much cheaper to society and could even be a greater deterrent.
Of course the victims could replace it with a lighter punishment if they wanted. I know I'd be there with my sharpened cleaver and a big smile that's for sure.
If we tolerate stealing we might as well tolerate murder, torture and rape as well, don't you think?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Its not a case of tolerating anything illegal, its a case of reasonable punishment.
Time spent in the pokey is sufficient for theft.
You get LIFE for crimes against the person, murder, rape etc, not for pinching a stupid motor car.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Borat Sagdiyev:
It is easy to maintain order when you just lock people up.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Very true, Nazi Germany and the USSR were extremely safe places to live in for law abiding obedient citizens.
I don't recall huge migrations of people to live in those places though.
Funny that, innit.
It is easy to maintain order when you just lock people up.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Very true, Nazi Germany and the USSR were extremely safe places to live in for law abiding obedient citizens.
I don't recall huge migrations of people to live in those places though.
Funny that, innit.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by eek:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Borat Sagdiyev:
It is easy to maintain order when you just lock people up.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Very true, Nazi Germany and the USSR were extremely safe places to live in for law abiding obedient citizens.
I don't recall huge migrations of people to live in those places though.
Funny that, innit.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Actually those two countries had massive migrations. Russia prior to communism had the most migrations and Post WW2 Germany had massive influxes of immigrants.eeeeee
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Borat Sagdiyev:
It is easy to maintain order when you just lock people up.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Very true, Nazi Germany and the USSR were extremely safe places to live in for law abiding obedient citizens.
I don't recall huge migrations of people to live in those places though.
Funny that, innit.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Actually those two countries had massive migrations. Russia prior to communism had the most migrations and Post WW2 Germany had massive influxes of immigrants.eeeeee
and another 2 in that 75 are under supervision via either probation or parole.
Jail cages should only be used to cage those we need truly fear.
Thieves generally do not meet that criteria. We would be better served with a system of restorative justice that indentures the thief to his 'victim' until such time as an agreed restitution is paid.
Drug users certainly do not meet that criteria unless they commit other crimes to fund their use. In that case they should be charged with the relevant crime and the drug use should be a non-factor. Also, drug use should not be available as a defense against committing other crimes.
Drug sellers don't meet this criteria either, since the only reason they can profit is due to Prohibition laws.
This can be demonstrated by the fact that only in rare instances do we have reason to fear a legal, regulated drug dealer. I doubt you drive by the alcohol store or pharmacy and duck your head from possible gunfire. You also don't fear those outlets selling dope to your kids.
Between 40-60% of our incarcerated population is someone who would be better living in the community, working and paying taxes and any needed restitution. I for one am tired of giving them a 'free ride' by paying for their housing, food and medical care via prison cells.
Admittedly it's not a preferred life for THEM, but it still costs me and I want out.
Finally, a person can overcome short term bad choices like drug use or petty crime. But overcoming a prison record is for many, an impossibility, and once again I am picking up social welfare costs on their behalf when they can't get legitimate work.
Jail cages should only be used to cage those we need truly fear.
Thieves generally do not meet that criteria. We would be better served with a system of restorative justice that indentures the thief to his 'victim' until such time as an agreed restitution is paid.
Drug users certainly do not meet that criteria unless they commit other crimes to fund their use. In that case they should be charged with the relevant crime and the drug use should be a non-factor. Also, drug use should not be available as a defense against committing other crimes.
Drug sellers don't meet this criteria either, since the only reason they can profit is due to Prohibition laws.
This can be demonstrated by the fact that only in rare instances do we have reason to fear a legal, regulated drug dealer. I doubt you drive by the alcohol store or pharmacy and duck your head from possible gunfire. You also don't fear those outlets selling dope to your kids.
Between 40-60% of our incarcerated population is someone who would be better living in the community, working and paying taxes and any needed restitution. I for one am tired of giving them a 'free ride' by paying for their housing, food and medical care via prison cells.
Admittedly it's not a preferred life for THEM, but it still costs me and I want out.
Finally, a person can overcome short term bad choices like drug use or petty crime. But overcoming a prison record is for many, an impossibility, and once again I am picking up social welfare costs on their behalf when they can't get legitimate work.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> IMO there is not such an enormous difference in lifestyles between the two countries to account for such a gap. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
wil have you seen 'bowling for columbine'.
Interesting comparison's in that movie betwen USA & Canada
wil have you seen 'bowling for columbine'.
Interesting comparison's in that movie betwen USA & Canada
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by barman:
Finally, a person can overcome short term bad choices like drug use or petty crime. But overcoming a prison record is for many, an impossibility, and once again I am picking up social welfare costs on their behalf when they can't get legitimate work.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Interesting.
We have a 5year rule for most (minor) offences.
A friend of mine tried to get back into permanent employment after alchoholism here in the UK. It wasa good job. A new start. A new chance.(He's dry 3yrs now.)
The application was rejected mainly because his old employer (10 yrs ago) gave a crappy reference, 10 years after he had left. (He did mess them about a lot at the time)
If he had had a CRIMINAL record, he could have had that struck off after 5 years (apart from certain violent stuff)
But his negative employee record will be pinned to his butt until he dies.
With no time limit.
Hes on permanent welfare now, and does voluntary work with alchoholics.
Mortgage.
Child benefit.(3 kids)
Emergency handouts.
Medical stuff.
etc
[This message was edited by eek on May 28, 2004 at 11:05 PM.]
Finally, a person can overcome short term bad choices like drug use or petty crime. But overcoming a prison record is for many, an impossibility, and once again I am picking up social welfare costs on their behalf when they can't get legitimate work.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Interesting.
We have a 5year rule for most (minor) offences.
A friend of mine tried to get back into permanent employment after alchoholism here in the UK. It wasa good job. A new start. A new chance.(He's dry 3yrs now.)
The application was rejected mainly because his old employer (10 yrs ago) gave a crappy reference, 10 years after he had left. (He did mess them about a lot at the time)
If he had had a CRIMINAL record, he could have had that struck off after 5 years (apart from certain violent stuff)
But his negative employee record will be pinned to his butt until he dies.
With no time limit.
Hes on permanent welfare now, and does voluntary work with alchoholics.
Mortgage.
Child benefit.(3 kids)
Emergency handouts.
Medical stuff.
etc
[This message was edited by eek on May 28, 2004 at 11:05 PM.]
Found a background story to this statistic ...
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
Report: 1 of Every 75 U.S. Men in Prison
By Connie Cass
(Associated Press)
WASHINGTON -- America's inmate population grew by 2.9 percent last year, to almost 2.1 million people, with one of every 75 men living in prison or jail.
The inmate population continued its rise despite a fall in the crime rate and many states' efforts to reduce some sentences, especially for low-level drug offenders.
The report issued Thursday by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics attributes much of the increase to get-tough policies enacted during the 1980s and '90s, such as mandatory drug sentences, "three-strikes-and-you're-out" laws for repeat offenders, and "truth-in-sentencing" laws that restrict early releases.
Whether that's good or bad depends on who is asked.
"The prison system just grows like a weed in the yard," said Vincent Schiraldi, executive director of the Justice Policy Institute, which pushes for a more lenient system.
Without reforms, he said, prison populations will continue to grow "almost as if they are on autopilot, regardless of their high costs and disappointing crime-control impact."
But Attorney General John Ashcroft said the report shows the success of efforts to take hard-core criminals off the streets.
"It is no accident that violent crime is at a 30-year low while prison population is up," Ashcroft said. "Violent and recidivist criminals are getting tough sentences while law-abiding Americans are enjoying unprecedented safety."
There were 715 inmates for every 100,000 U.S. residents at midyear in 2003, up from 703 a year earlier, the report found.
The nation's incarceration rate tops the world, according to The Sentencing Project, another group that promotes alternatives to prison. That compares with a rate of 169 per 100,000 residents in Mexico, 116 in Canada and 143 for England and Wales.
Russia's prison population, which once rivaled the United States', has dropped to 584 per 100,000 because of prisoner amnesties in recent years, the group said.
The U.S. inmate population in 2003 grew at its fastest pace in four years. The number of inmates increased 1.8 percent in state prisons, 7.1 percent in federal prisons and 3.9 percent in local jails.
In 2003, 68 percent of prison and jail inmates were members of racial or ethnic minorities, the government said. An estimated 12 percent of all black men in their 20s were in jails or prisons, as were 3.7 percent of Hispanic men and 1.6 percent of white men in that age group, according to the report.
The report also said:
-The number of women in state and federal prisons grew by 5 percent, compared to a 2.7 percent increase for men. Still, men greatly outnumber women: 1.36 million to 100,102.
-Local jails held 691,301 inmates.
-The inmate population in 10 states increased at least 5 percent. Some of the smallest state prison systems saw the largest increase: Vermont's grew by 12.2 percent, Minnesota was up 9.4 percent and Maine 9.1 percent.
-Only nine states logged a decrease in prison population, led by Rhode Island with a 3.4 percent drop; Arkansas, 2.2 percent; and Montana, 2.1 percent.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
You can find the Bureau of Justice original report (and other information) here.
The World Prison Population study totals up approximately 9 million prison inmatesworldwide, which puts the U.S. just under 25% of the entire prison population of the world -- more so even than China by over half a million. The U.S. also leads in per capita at 701/100k of the population in prison, beating out #2 Russia by a sizable margin (the latter boasts 606/100k)
Phaedrus
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
Report: 1 of Every 75 U.S. Men in Prison
By Connie Cass
(Associated Press)
WASHINGTON -- America's inmate population grew by 2.9 percent last year, to almost 2.1 million people, with one of every 75 men living in prison or jail.
The inmate population continued its rise despite a fall in the crime rate and many states' efforts to reduce some sentences, especially for low-level drug offenders.
The report issued Thursday by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics attributes much of the increase to get-tough policies enacted during the 1980s and '90s, such as mandatory drug sentences, "three-strikes-and-you're-out" laws for repeat offenders, and "truth-in-sentencing" laws that restrict early releases.
Whether that's good or bad depends on who is asked.
"The prison system just grows like a weed in the yard," said Vincent Schiraldi, executive director of the Justice Policy Institute, which pushes for a more lenient system.
Without reforms, he said, prison populations will continue to grow "almost as if they are on autopilot, regardless of their high costs and disappointing crime-control impact."
But Attorney General John Ashcroft said the report shows the success of efforts to take hard-core criminals off the streets.
"It is no accident that violent crime is at a 30-year low while prison population is up," Ashcroft said. "Violent and recidivist criminals are getting tough sentences while law-abiding Americans are enjoying unprecedented safety."
There were 715 inmates for every 100,000 U.S. residents at midyear in 2003, up from 703 a year earlier, the report found.
The nation's incarceration rate tops the world, according to The Sentencing Project, another group that promotes alternatives to prison. That compares with a rate of 169 per 100,000 residents in Mexico, 116 in Canada and 143 for England and Wales.
Russia's prison population, which once rivaled the United States', has dropped to 584 per 100,000 because of prisoner amnesties in recent years, the group said.
The U.S. inmate population in 2003 grew at its fastest pace in four years. The number of inmates increased 1.8 percent in state prisons, 7.1 percent in federal prisons and 3.9 percent in local jails.
In 2003, 68 percent of prison and jail inmates were members of racial or ethnic minorities, the government said. An estimated 12 percent of all black men in their 20s were in jails or prisons, as were 3.7 percent of Hispanic men and 1.6 percent of white men in that age group, according to the report.
The report also said:
-The number of women in state and federal prisons grew by 5 percent, compared to a 2.7 percent increase for men. Still, men greatly outnumber women: 1.36 million to 100,102.
-Local jails held 691,301 inmates.
-The inmate population in 10 states increased at least 5 percent. Some of the smallest state prison systems saw the largest increase: Vermont's grew by 12.2 percent, Minnesota was up 9.4 percent and Maine 9.1 percent.
-Only nine states logged a decrease in prison population, led by Rhode Island with a 3.4 percent drop; Arkansas, 2.2 percent; and Montana, 2.1 percent.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
You can find the Bureau of Justice original report (and other information) here.
The World Prison Population study totals up approximately 9 million prison inmatesworldwide, which puts the U.S. just under 25% of the entire prison population of the world -- more so even than China by over half a million. The U.S. also leads in per capita at 701/100k of the population in prison, beating out #2 Russia by a sizable margin (the latter boasts 606/100k)
Phaedrus
