The Prison Industrial Complex. Locked up in America

Greetings from the Country that holds 1/4 of the world’s prisoners.[3]

America has the largest correctional budget of the world.
Largest Spending States Total:
1.)California:$7,900,000,000
2.)New York:$3,600,000,000
3.)Texas:$3,300,000,000
4.)Pennsylvania:$2,100,000,000
5.)Florida:$2,080,000,000
Largest Spending per prisoner:
1.)New York:$60,076
2.)New Jersey:$54,865
3.)Connecticut:$50,262
4.)Vermont:$49,502
5.)Rhode Island:$49,133
———
Total Spending: $39,000,000,000
That’s 2/3 of the entire public education budget
Or the equivalent of the average earnings of 18.7 million families in the U.S.
———–
And the most prisoners:
[plot out number of inmates per year, info on spreadsheet.Can also include the percfentage change per year plotted as bars going up and down from the trend line–also on spreadsheet.][5][6][9]
Top Five yearly increases in prison population
[year, percentage increase from previous year][5][6]
1.)2003-2004:51%+
2.)1988-1989:21%+
3.) 1991-1992:14%+
4.)1926-1927:12%+
5.)1981-1982:12%+
with 1/9 serving a LIFE SENTENCE[4]
In comparison:
[inmates per 100,000 citizens][9]
America: 760
Japan: 63
Germany: 90
France: 96
South Korea: 97
Britain: 153

Leaving the U.S. with 5% of the world’s population, and 25% of the world’s prisoners. [3]

Why? Because we “define deviancy down.”

Patrick Moynihan(1993) “Defining Deviency Down”[2]
What we learn:
“the number of deviancies which come to a community’s attention are limited by the kinds of equipment it uses to detect and handle them”
3 stocks = 3 “criminal” drunkards from last night.
New York’s Mental Hospital “warehouses” (1955) = 94,000 New Yorkers[2]
New Medicines=the belief that we could cure deviancy that way=1 mental hospital for 100,000 citizens
[Massive Decrease]
(1992)=11,363 New Yorkers [2]
[#images of drug dogs, swat, survaillence, then:]
4,575 current correctional institutions=2,270,142 prisoners
(optional info: “Which is actually greater than the prison system’s official capacity–2,270,142/2,265,000)

The privatization of prisons also incentivizes incarceration.
Locations of private prison centers:
[from 2/3 major private prison companies][11][12]
texas 24
Tennessee 7
Arizona 9
California 8
Florida 8
Georgia 10
Colorado 6
Oklahoma 5
Kentucky 3
New Mexico 6
Indiana 3
Louisiana 3
Mississippi 2
Washington 1
Ohio 2
Montana 1
New York 1
Nevada 1
Pennsylvania 1
New Jersey 1
Idaho 1
North Carolina 1
Virginia 1
Minnesota 1
Kansas 1
D.C. 1

Because states sign contracts agreeing to fill up private prison beds, or pay a monetary penalty.[4]

So even if you aren’t doing anything wrong, they’ll find something to book you for:
[type of offense, percentage of total prisoners.][10]
For Federal Prisons:
Drug Offenses: (46.8 %)
Weapons, Explosives, Arson: (16.4 %)
Immigration: (11.7 %)
Robbery: (4.1 %)
Burglary, Larceny, Property Offenses: (4.1 %)
Extortion, Fraud, Bribery: (5.8 %)
Homicide, Aggravated Assault, and Kidnapping Offenses: (3.0 %)
Miscellaneous: (0.8 %)
Sex Offenses: (6.2 %)
Banking and Insurance, Counterfeit, Embezzlement: (0.4 %)
Courts or Corrections: (0.3 %)
Continuing Criminal Enterprise: (0.3 %)
National Security: (0.0 %)

With well over half the prison population performing victimless crimes.
That’s what it means to be locked up in America.

citations

Home

Global Research

Greetings from the Country that holds 1/4 of the world’s prisoners.[3]

Related Articles from our Archives