The American prison-industrial complex, for which African Americans are inordinately represented, has recently crossed an abysmal threshold. For the first time ever, one out of every 100 American adults is in prison, according to the Pew Center on the States study. Worse yet, five states actually spend more on “corrections” than higher education. Despite the fact that the U.S. houses only 5 percent of the world’s population, we have 25 percent of the world’s population behind bars.
What’s puzzling for pundits and social scientists is this fact: violent crime, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the U.S. Department of Justice, dropped significantly nationwide during the same time period that the prison population exploded to over two million people. This means that low-level and nonviolent prisoners are being incarcerated at higher rates and for longer periods of time due to legislative decisions, including the notorious and controversial “three strikes, you’re out” rule.
The Pew Center’s study states that at the start of 2008, 2.3 million adults were being housed in America’s prisons or jails. The latest Justice Department study in 2006 on the Pew Center’s website reveals that while “one in 30 men between ages 20 to 34 is behind bars, the figure is one in nine for black males in that age group.” For black women ages 35 to 39, one in 100 is imprisoned, compared with one in 355 white women of the same age.
Despite the dubious mark and the record-breaking numbers of inmates, it has not translated to a sense of safety across the country. “For all the money spent on corrections today, there hasn’t been a clear and convincing return for public safety,” said Adam Gelb, director of the Public Safety Performance Project. “More and more states are beginning to rethink their reliance on prisons for lower-level offenders and finding strategies that are tough on crime without being so tough on taxpayers.”
Last year, states appropriated nearly $50 billion on corrections, a rise of $11 billion from two decades prior. The Pew study suggests that the major reason for this exorbitant rise in numbers is due to low-level offenders and individuals who violated the terms of their parole and probation. Yet the rate of recidivism – or the former inmates’ penchant for returning to prison – has not been reduced, leading some to wonder aloud of its effectiveness.
“States are paying a high cost for corrections—one that may not be buying them as much in public safety as it should. And spending on prisons may be crowding out investments in other valuable programs that could enhance a state’s economic competitiveness,” said Susan K. Urahn, managing director of the Pew Center on the States. “There are other choices. Some state policy makers are experimenting with a range of community punishments that are as effective as incarceration in protecting public safety and allow states to put the brakes on prison growth.” –terry shropshire
