2 million and counting

In case you missed it, Reuters reported yesterday that, for the first time ever, there are 2 million people in our nation’s prisons and jails. This number, remarkably, is double the incarcerated population of 1990.

One in every 142 Americans is behind bars. I know this story didn’t get much play in the media, but I wonder if we weren’t at war whether this would be the national embarrassment I perceive it to be.

The United States, the freest and strongest democracy on the planet, locks up more people than any other nation — both in number and in percentage of the population.

To add some chilling perspective to these numbers, The Sentencing Project reports that we keep more of our own people behind bars than the Soviet Union did, and the USSR wasn’t exactly known for its liberated society. Worse, the U.S. imprisons black males at four times the rate South Africa did during its oppressive apartheid government.

Not only is this a tragedy, it’s terribly expensive. Maintaining a prison population of this size costs taxpayers about $16 billion a year. These costs, of course, don’t begin to reflect the human cost this has on our social fabric.

There has got to a better way to maintain public safety in this country. I agree with many of The Sentencing Project’s recommendations to the criminal justice system, especially repealing draconian mandatory sentencing laws and alternative programs for first time, non-violent, drug offenders. Also, nonsensical “three strikes” laws — popular with politicians but not those who actually work in the criminal justice arena — should be rescinded.

Alas, I don’t have much hope for any substantive changes. Lawmakers and public officials know that the first one to stand up and demand change will be labeled “soft on crime” and probably rejected by voters. So the disgrace continues.