We are desensitized to the crimes that we see on the news or hear about. Too many illegal acts occur for us to keep track of. We have just gotten used to them when, really, this is a huge problem. These are parents, children, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and other people we know. About one in 28 children has a parent in jail. The United States has the largest number of people incarcerated in a prison or jail -- currently 2.2 million in fact, which is an over 500 percent increase over the past 30 years and 20 percent of the world's prison population. What is even scarier is that the number of people in prison has decreased over the past few years, but we are still a lot higher than any other country. This has led to overcrowding, which isn't safe, right or justifiable. The state with the largest prison population by ratio of state population is Louisiana, while Maine is the lowest. What's also concerning is the amount of money that is spent on the prison system, about $80 billion a year.
Race, ethnicity, gender, age and education are all factors that play into incarceration rates. About 70 percent of the people in jail didn't finish high school, and most are in their 20s or early 30s. Also, a black man is four times more likely to be incarcerated than a white man. This proves that race is very disproportional in the prisons, with people of color more likely to be jail. Gender is another noticeable problem. 93 percent of incarcerated people are men. Other ethnicities are noticeable too, with 33 percent of inmates being Hispanic. All of this is concerning because certain groups are more likely to go to prison than others.
What is scary is how many people are sent to jail without trial. 80 percent of defendants cannot afford a lawyer, so tens of thousands go to jail every year without going to trial or ever talking to a lawyer. More than 96 percent of convictions in federal system are from guilty pleas instead of being ruled by juries. Overwhelmingly, a public defender can have more than 100 clients at a time.
Currently 65 million people in the United States have a criminal record
. It's terrifying that we are compared with Russia, China, and North Korea for the highest prison population when we are a nation that is built on freedom and set values. Nearly half of these people were serving non-violent drug, property or public order crimes. This disgusts me because, once a person gets in the cycle of prison, it's difficult to get out and to build a life after it. There needs to be more programs to help keep people out of jail and help them get back on their feet when they get out of serving their time to make sure they don't go back to jail.
