Countries with the most prisoners:
13 Oct. 07
1. USA - 2,078,570 = one out of every 145 people
2. Russia - 846,967 = one out of every 166 people
3. China - 1,549,000 = one out of every 853 people
Possible reasons for USA being # 1:
1.Law and order crackdown begun by president Reagan in 1980, throwing
many more into jail instead of giving them just fines or community
service.
2. California's infamous 'three strikes' law, in force since the early 1990's.
Under this law, anyone committing a third offence is sentenced to life
imprisonment. Many petty criminals committing minor offences have been
jailed for life. In one case, a man stole a 99 cent slice of pizza. He
was sentenced to life imprisonment because it was his third offence.
There are thousands of cases like this.
This has meant extremely overcrowded prisons in which the usual
incidents of violence, homosexual rape, drug use and murder are
greatly multiplied. These prisons are hell-holes of despair, far worse
than any Sri Lankan prison.
3. The US is the most litigious society on earth. There are more
lawyers in Chicago than in all of Japan! All those lawyers, cops,
judges etc. have to be kept employed. There are millions of laws in
the US, probably more than any other country on earth.
The US has 50 states with 50 different sets of laws. Then there are
thousands of cities, towns and municipalities with their own laws. On
top of that, there are all the federal laws. What is legal or only a
minor misdemeanor in one state, city or municipality, might carry a
long jail term in another jurisdiction.
As with many other misguided US policies, millions of Americans can
only look on in despair and wonder what has happened to their
wonderful country. There is little they can do, because their hands
are tied, legally, politically and constitutionally.
The US ship of state seems to be buffeted and tossed around by every
political wind that comes around, and it's citizens seem helpless to
do anything about it.
Maybe the great 18th century British historian Lord Macaulay was right
when he told Americans, "Your constitution is all sail and no
anchor."
