Incarceration In The United States
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The US is ranked #1 in some impressive areas but being #1 for incarceration isn’t something to brag about. In fact, more than 1 in every 100 adults in America are incarcerated at any given time. In some states such as Louisiana as many as 1 in 55 adults are incarcerated at any time. But even in states with fewer incarcerations like Maine, 1 in 226 are still incarcerated. In light of such numbers it isn’t surprising that the US has 25% of the world’s incarcerated population even though the US only makes up around 5% of the population globally.
Despite the huge population of incarcerated people it is far from a representative portion of the population. While the national average is 1 in 100, only 1 in 106 is a white male. Shockingly, 1 in 15 Black men are incarcerated. This is like 2 people out of every classroom. Comparatively 1 in 36 Hispanic men are incarcerated fully 300% more than their white counterparts.
1 in 9 black men between the ages of 20 and 34 are incarcerated. (source)
More than three times as many black people live in prison cells as in college dorms.
The ratio is only slightly better for Hispanics, at 2.7 inmates for every Latino in college housing. Among non-Hispanic whites, more than twice as many live in college housing as in prison or jail.
An annual cost for a single inmate is more than the annual cost for healthcare and basic education for the average American COMBINED.
The U.S. is not a police state.
- 3 months ago
- 3611
Too many laws, too many prisoners
Mr Norris was 65 years old at the time, and a collector of orchids. He eventually discovered that he was suspected of smuggling the flowers into America, an offense under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species….
In March 2004, five months after the [initial] raid, Mr Norris was indicted, handcuffed and thrown into a cell with a suspected murderer and two suspected drug-dealers. When told why he was there, “they thought it hilarious.” One asked: “What do you do with these things? Smoke ’em?” …
[Later] an undercover federal agent had ordered some orchids from him, a few of which arrived without the correct papers. For this, he was charged with making a false statement to a government official, a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison. Since he had communicated with his suppliers, he was charged with conspiracy, which also carries a potential five-year term.
As his legal bills exploded, Mr Norris reluctantly changed his plea to guilty, though he still protests his innocence. He was sentenced to 17 months in prison. After some time, he was released while his appeal was heard, but then put back inside. His health suffered: he has Parkinson’s disease, which was not helped by the strain of imprisonment. For bringing some prescription sleeping pills into prison, he was put in solitary confinement for 71 days. The prison was so crowded, however, that even in solitary he had two room-mates.
- 3 months ago
- 58
Police roll out video surveillance truck called The Peacemaker
Tania Ouaknine is convinced the police are watching her.
She’s not paranoid — it says as much on the red sign painted along the side on the hulking armored truck that’s been parked in front of her eight-room Parisian Motel for several days.
“Warning: You are under video surveillance,” reads the bold message on the side of the truck.
From the front bumper of the menacing vehicle, another sign taunts: “Whatcha gonna do when we come for you?”
The truck is a new weapon for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department in the fight against drugs and neighborhood nuisances, and it looks like a Winnebago on steroids. They call it “The Peacemaker,” and it may be a first in South Florida.
Mixing high tech with simplicity, the in-your-face strategy is straightforward: load an out-of-service armored truck with some of the latest surveillance equipment available and decorate it with police emblems. Then, simply leave it parked in front of trouble spots.
“Make no mistakes about it,” said Detective Travis Mandell. “We want people to know that we are watching the bad guys.”http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-neighborhood-crime-surveillance-20120126,0,5814428.story
- 3 months ago
- 69
Turns out Robocop actually looks like a vacuum cleaner. This unmanned aircraft — the same kind that’s been deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan — has been enlisted by cops in Miami.
Miami-Dade police will use the system only for operations involving a hostage or a suspected gunman who is barricaded in a fixed location. But other creative uses will likely be found. SWAT team officers have asked Cohen if a drone could drop a smoke or flash-bang grenade to distract a suspect. Hostage negotiators wondered if it could deliver a cellphone to a barricaded individual. In the case of these particular drones, the answer to both was no — they have no payload capability.
- 3 months ago
- 28
Jailed and ignored for two years, Stephen Slevin was awarded $22 million by a federal jury in Santa Fe in one of the largest prisoner-rights judgments ever.
Stephen Slevin was never convicted of a crime. But for two years, he languished in a New Mexico jail cell, going month after month without showers or outdoor recreation or human contact.
His nails grew so long that they curled. Refused medication and denied access to a dentist, he says he was forced to pull his own tooth.
In the photo on the left, Slevin appears in his mugshot following his August 2005 arrest; on the right, he is malnourished and disheveled after two years in solitary confinement.
Photo: Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Department/AP
Holy shit!
- 4 months ago
- 846
Two undercover police officers secretly fathered children with political campaigners they had been sent to spy on and later disappeared completely from the lives of their offspring, the Guardian can reveal
In both cases, the children have grown up not knowing that their biological fathers – whom they have not seen in decades – were police officers who had adopted fake identities to infiltrate activist groups. Both men have concealed their true identities from the children’s mothers for many years.
This makes the phone-hacking scandal look like a beacon of ethical behavior. Wow.
(Source: joshsternberg)
- 4 months ago
- 234
