Lock 'em up? America pays dearly for having a high prison population

Last year the Bush administration was highly indignant when a report, prepared by a coalition of human rights groups in the United States, was submitted to the United Nations documenting various forms of human rights abuses committed by the United States.

Tonya McClary of the American Friends Service Committee and co-author of the 465-page report “In the Shadows of the War on Terror: Persistent Police Brutality and Abuse in the United States,” said, “The principle offender is the prison system.” She also notes that, “Because prisons are a closed system, operating in secrecy, the public does not comprehend the extreme forms of abuse, violence and racism practiced daily behind bars.”

While the United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population, it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners. The International Center for Prison Studies at King’s College London points out that the United States has 2.3 million citizens behind bars, whereas China, with four times the population, has less than 1.6 million people in prison, including those held in “administrative detention.”

That works out to 751 prisoners for every 100,000 people in the U.S. In comparison, Russia has 627 per 100,000, England 151, Germany 88 and Japan 63. The world median is about 125, only one-fifth of the U.S. rate, which is the highest in the world.

A November 2007 Report by the JFA Institute, a Washington criminal-justice research group, noted, “The system is almost feeding on itself now. It takes years and years and years to get out of this system, and we do not see any positive impact on the crime rates.” The group also notes that the prison population is projected to grow by another 192,000 in five years, at a cost of $27.6 billion to build and operate additional prisons. At current rates, one-third of all black males, one-sixth of Latino males, and one in 17 white males will go to prison during their lives.

Most of us wouldn’t complain if it meant U.S. citizens actually have a safer environment than other nations. That isn’t the case. Despite the recent decline in the U.S. murder rate, it is still about four times that of most countries in Western Europe. On the positive side, we do have lower burglary and robbery rates than Australia, Canada and England.

The length of sentences also distinguishes American prison polity. American prison stays are much longer, so the total incarceration rate is higher. One can also successfully argue that locking up criminals for longer periods reduces the level of crime.

Putting people in prison is a complex issue, but whatever the reason, the gap between American justice and that of the rest of the world is enormous and growing. James Whitman, a specialist in comparative law at Yale last year observed, “Far from serving as a model for the world, contemporary America is viewed with horror.”

What a sad comment for those of us who still remember when the United States was viewed as the last great hope for the world.