Over 1 In 100 Adults in the US Behind Bars

Now that is sure to do a great deal to improve the country - what is the deal here? From the "Herald Tribune":

"Germany imprisons 93 out of every 100,000 people, according to the International Center for Prison Studies at King's College in London. The comparable number for the United States is roughly eight times that, or 750 out of 100,000.

"Urahn said the nation could not afford the incarceration rate documented in the report...

"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."

I mean hell, why not just give people at risk for committing non-violent crimes due to poverty that much a year and solve the problem in a more constructive way?



http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/29/america/29prison.php