Videos: 7 Million Americans In Prison (or Parole)

One in every 32 adults in the United States was behind bars or on probation or parole by the end of 2001, according to a government report that found a record 6.6 million people in the nation's correctional system. (last statistics available) Growing at a rate of about 900 inmates each week between mid-2003 and mid-2004, the nation's prisons and jails held 2.1 million people, or one in every 138 U.S. residents. Hundreds of new laws are being passed every year by city, county, state, and federal governmental institutions and we are told that ignorance of these laws is no excuse. references ... *In the System Video *Martial Law:Rise of the Police State (radio stream) *the NEW AMERICAN *THE JAILHOUSE LAWYER The Bureau of Justice Statistics has projected that if current trends continue, one out of every three African American men born in 2001 will go to prison at some point during their lifetime. Prison spending has increased five times as fast as education spending. Nearly 2 million voters are disenfranchised because they have felony records. In 2001, nearly 6.6 million people were on probation, in jail or prison, or on parole at year end. That number represents 3.1% of all U.S. adult residents or one in every 32 adults. reference ... *Prisons in America A black male born in 1991 has an almost 1/3 chance of going to prison. Arrest rates for minorities went from under 600 per 100,000 in 1980 to over 1500 in 1990 while for whites they remained essentially the same. references ... *the New American Apartheid *American Prisons