Mass incarceration has become a giant industry in the U.S., so it’s no coincidence that the United States now imprisons more of its people than any other country in the world. This industry generates huge profits not only for private prison companies, but also, for everything from food companies and telecoms to all the businesses that are using prison labor to cut their manufacturing costs. Continue reading… “Surprising industries profiting from mass incarceration”
Mass incarceration may be the greatest social crisis in modern American history
More than 2.4 million people are behind bars in the United States today.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously last week to allow nearly 50,000 nonviolent federal drug offenders to seek lower sentences. The decision of the commission retroactively applied an earlier change in sentencing guidelines to now cover roughly half of those serving federal drug sentences. Both the Department of Justice and prison-reform advocates have endorsed the change. It’s a significant step forward in reversing decades of mass incarceration, though in a global context, still modest.
Continue reading… “Mass incarceration may be the greatest social crisis in modern American history”
America’s race inequality by graph
Even though African-Americans make up 50% of murder victims (they are only 12% of the population) most death sentences that are handed out for killing are for white people.
Continue reading… “America’s race inequality by graph”
Inside the Prison Industrial Complex in America
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS9Vxt3yQdk[/youtube]
In America today there seems to be an extremely problematic phenomenon of the ever growing industry of privatized prisons across America, generally referred to as the Prison Industrial Complex, as well as skyrocketing rates of incarceration that leave the rest of the nations of the world trailing behind.
Continue reading… “Inside the Prison Industrial Complex in America”
When Prisons Become Illegal
Futurist Thomas Frey: The first time I watched Star Trek and heard Captain Kirk utter the phrase – “Set your phasers to stun!” – it occurred to me that these future weapons featured a number of different settings.
11 stunning facts about the American prison system
Many times it’s simple mistakes that send people to the slammer
A greater percentage of the population in the U.S. is locked up in prison than any other country in the world.
Continue reading… “11 stunning facts about the American prison system”