Why America’s Prison System is Bursting at the Seams
It’s hard to believe that America has the highest percentage of incarcerated citizens that any other nation in the world. Yet, it is true. The United States is home to 25% of the world’s prison population. This seems impossible! America is only home to 5% of the world’s entire population; how is it possible that this nation has so many people in the prison system?
Our Crime Rate Isn’t Increasing
One would assume that this means our crime rates are greatly increasing. They would be wrong; the United States imprisons more criminal offenders and keeps them in longer than other nations. Around 1 in 100 adults are serving jail sentences. The imprisonment rate in the United States is higher than China and Russia.
Harsh Drug Penalties
One of the top reasons why the prison system is so full is because of the penalties for drug usage. Possessing even a small amount of cocaine can result in a two to five year jail sentence. Because of things such as “mandatory minimum sentences” and “three strike laws,” our incarceration rates have grown.
The War on Drugs is a huge reason why the prison system has exploded. Law enforcement spends a great deal of time targeting people for drug dealing and drug possession. This came as a result of the crack epidemic in the 1980s. Ideally, Congress wanted to convict the major drug traffickers, but high sentences came with having just a small amount. Under the war on drugs, five grams of crack can be 5 year sentence.
Longer Sentences
The three strike law mandates that anyone convicted of a third felony would be sentenced to a much longer sentence, typically a 20 to 25 year sentence. This means stealing a pizza for the third time can result in a 20 year sentence. This is one of the top reasons that our incarceration rates are so high; the sentences keep getting longer and longer. Some states, such as California, are working to reverse these laws to reduce the prison population.
Racial Minorities
It is a known fact that racial minorities are incarcerated more frequently. They are up to six times more likely to be jailed than a white person. A majority of this goes back to the war on drugs when blacks were arrested for drug charges five times more than whites. This is baffling because studies show that whites use drugs at the same amount as minorities.
There is a huge racial disparity when comparing the race of inmates. Around 43% of the prison population is African American. There is increasing research that tells us that having at least a high school degree reduces the incarceration rate.
It’s baffling to think that a nation as civilized as America would have such a high prison population. The high incarceration rate has led to more citizens living in poverty. Once released from prison, they struggle with finding employment and the cycle continues. Unless politicians work to change the laws, the prison population will never decrease.
