U.S. Prison System

[zbuddy]

There has recently been a lot of coverage regarding the U.S. prison system lately in academia and most forms of media. I hear plenty of grievances and concerns, but I am still baffled. Now, this could just be because I am an idiot who lacks critical thinking skills, or it could be knee-jerk emotionalism and demagoguery.

From what I gather people use the amount of detention facilities (e.g., prison, jail, juvenile hall) being constructed is something along the lines of 12x more than educational institutions (e.g., schools and colleges). This is a fact, as far as I can tell, but I don't see it being a function of anything other than a culture. I fail to see how a company or corporation can force anyone to go to prison. Nor do I see a feasible argument that certain laws target certain races. However, I do see how some legislation can target certain socio-economic demographics; such as stricter drug laws, which in turn lead to more substance abuse addled poor to be over-represented in prisons.

I am not trying cause a stir, nor offend anyone, I am genuinely curious. My perspective on the matter is this: It is [i]NOT[/i] hard to live a life in the U.S. without committing multiple felonies. Remember, the amount of people caught is a small fraction of the amount of people committing similar crimes. Furthermore, you usually have to be caught, arrested, and convicted multiple times before you get institutionalized.

Thoughts?

-Z

[ZombieRob]

Furthermore, you usually have to be caught, arrested, and convicted multiple times before you get institutionalized.

I'm just curious what your basis for this information is.

[sob]

aren't they private prisons. What the problem then.

[zbuddy]

Furthermore, you usually have to be caught, arrested, and convicted multiple times before you get institutionalized.

I'm just curious what your basis for this information is.

California's three strikes law. I assumed the logic was pretty straight forward.

I can try to convey it another way, I suppose. There is roughly 90,000 police officers in California (I got the data from the California Peace Officers Association). California has, 37,253,956 according to the U.S. Census in 2010. It is safe to assume that that number is larger due to illegal immigration.

So, we have 37,253,956 / 90,000 = 414 citizens per 1 law enforcement officer, or .002% of the population is a cop. So the statistical significance of getting caught, even if only a small portion of the 414 people are criminals, is very low.

Does that make better sense? There is obviously a shit load more variables that I didn't take into account, but I think it should sum it up well enough.

[zbuddy]

aren't they private prisons. What the problem then.

I think that they have privatized quite a few of the prisons. But, good ol' supply and demand is what dictates companies, not malice (as far as I know )

[ZombieRob]

California's three strikes law. I assumed the logic was pretty straight forward.

I can try to convey it another way, I suppose. There is roughly 90,000 police officers in California (I got the data from the California Peace Officers Association). California has, 37,253,956 according to the U.S. Census in 2010. It is safe to assume that that number is larger due to illegal immigration.

So, we have 37,253,956 / 90,000 = 414 citizens per 1 law enforcement officer, or .002% of the population is a cop. So the statistical significance of getting caught, even if only a small portion of the 414 people are criminals, is very low.

Does that make better sense? There is obviously a shit load more variables that I didn't take into account, but I think it should sum it up well enough.

I think I follow you. You're right that it's not difficult to conduct oneself in society as a law-abiding citizen. I'm going to give your original post more thought so I can give a thorough reply.

[zbuddy]

I think I follow you. You're right that it's not difficult to conduct oneself in society as a law-abiding citizen. I'm going to give your original post more thought so I can give a thorough reply.

Cool. I am just tired of asking questions to people who are protesting or griping about in in class only to be met with aggressive emotionalism. The zombie message board is better for critical thinking Usually, the most simple answer is the correct answer – Occam’s Razor, right?

[ZombieRob]

Essentially what I understand you to be asking is this: What are your thoughts on the idea that certain races and/or classes are targeted for incarceration?

Is that what you're asking for thoughts on, or am I missing the mark?

[zbuddy]

More so on the tangent that prisons are not super secret organizations trying to enslave the human race and the increase of them is a function of current culture and economic status, not the illuminutty.

I was hoping to hear some arguments against my own that use facts and data; rather than 'the prisons all have dark people in them, therefore society is racist!'

I can't get a response from the individuals whom protest against prisons at all, so I figured someone here would have some food for thought on the matter.

[ZombieRob]

More so on the tangent that prisons are not super secret organizations trying to enslave the human race and the increase of them is a function of current culture and economic status, not the illuminutty.

I was hoping to hear some arguments against my own that use facts and data; rather than 'the prisons all have dark people in them, therefore society is racist!'

I can't get a response from the individuals whom protest against prisons at all, so I figured someone here would have some food for thought on the matter.

I don't think prisons are meant to enslave humanity, nor is racial profiling nearly as prominent as some people believe (at least in the United States; I don't know how it is in Europe or elsewhere). So I'm afraid I agree with you (evidence to the contrary, I think, is rather rare and often fabricated).