Prison clock says

[lonestarnot]

As of 9:19:17 A.M. today, there are an estimated 2,306,872 people in U.S. prisons and jails. Source.

Stay informed.

http://www.prisonsucks.com/clocksource.shtml

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. One out of every 142 people are in jail.

China has 1.5 million.
Russia 865K.

[sam sarrha]

2. about 82% are non violent, economic/corporate prisoners/treatable addictions

[ixion]

3. we're number one!! land of the free!!

:sarcasm:

[malaise]

4. It's the new plantation

Of that I'm sure.

[stillcool]

5. from the cradle...to the jail

• In 2000, 1.5 million U.S. children had an incarcerated parent. Between 1990-2001, the number of women in prison increased by 106%.
• Between 1992-2002, the number of infants and toddlers entering foster care increased by 110%.
• In 1993, more than 60% of the homeless population in NYC municipal shelters were former foster youth.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are more than half a million children and youth in the U.S. foster care system,a 90% increase since 1987. Three of 10 of the nation’s homeless are former foster children.
A recent study has found that 12-18 months after leaving foster care:
27% of the males and 10% of the females had been incarcerated
33% were receiving public assistance
37% had not finished high school
50% were unemployed
Children in foster care are three to six times more likely than children not in care to have emotional, behavioral and developmental problems

A study by the National Center for Mental Health and Juvenille Justice found 70% of these youth meet the criteria for at least one mental health disorder. What's worse is that 36% of the parents of these youth intentionally involved the juvenile justice system to access mental health services...some 12,700 children were places in either child welfare, or the juvenile justice systems to access mental health systems (U.S. GAO 2003)
80 percent of prison inmates have been through the foster care system.

Children are 11 times more likely to be abused in State care than they are in their own homes.
http://fostersurvivor.netfirms.com/statistics.shtml

Nationwide, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers are increasingly focusing on a growing tragedy—large numbers of youth with mental health problems becoming involved in the juvenile justice system. A recent study by the National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice
found approximately 70% of the youth in residential juvenile justice settings meet criteria for at least one mental health disorder(Shufelt &Cocozza, 2006).

--According to the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, since 1990 the incarceration of youth in adult jails has increased 208%. On any given day, more than 7,000 young people are held in adult jails.

-- Increasing numbers of young people have been
placed in adult jails where they are at risk of assault, abuse, and death.
Currently, 40 states permit or require that youth charged as adults be placed pre-trial in an adult jail, and in some states they may be required to serve their entire sentence in an adult jail. According to the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, since 1990 the incarceration of youth in adult jails has increased 208%.
http://www.campaign4youthjustice.org/Downloads/NEWS/JPI014Consequences_Summary.pdf

Between1980 and 1994, the number of people in federal and state prisons increased 221%.

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/statistics/entryexit2005.htm
Foster Care in the Year 2020 (if nothing changes in child welfare trends)
Children who will experience the foster care system Over 9,000,00014
Children who will age out of the foster care system 300,00015
Foster youth aging out of the system that will experience homelessness 75,00016
Foster youth aging out of the system that graduate from college 9,00017
Number of children killed by abuse or neglect 22,50018
http://www.casey.org/MediaCenter/MediaKit/FactSheet.htm

[ixion]

6. those are some very sad statistics...and indicative of the police state

we are quickly becoming. :(

[lonestarnot]

8. In your opinion, is this too big to stop?

[stillcool]

9. I don't know...

I think every problem has a solution. I got started on all of this because of my dad's experience in WWII. His emotional wounds, and my mothers' death when I was a year old, destroyed any chance of family, and I ended up in foster care. I believe that the root of so much of the illness of our society can be attributed to the cause and effects of war and poverty. I don't believe children would be neglected if people were available to care for them, both in an emotional and physical sense. There is cause and effect to everything in life...this kind of shit is not manufactured in a petri dish. This is politics. I know because of my experience in AA, how many women turn to drugs and alcohol as a result of abuse. And how much guilt and shame they bear because of how it has affected their children. And, I know how many men turn to abuse for the same reason..but also because of how society views what emotional make-up constitutes masculinity. It's not like the Veterans Administration is not fully aware of what happens to a person's mind as a result of living in a war zone, and how that has impacted families for generations. Maybe we need some kind of mandated mental health. A crash course in becoming more human beings and less human doings.

[lonestarnot]

11. I was thinking more in terms of the economy.

We have Judges who have jobs, cops who have jobs, probation officers, private prison staff, state prison staff, federal prison staff, parole officers, nursing staff in prisons, shrinks in prison, accountants, transportation workers, and so on and so forth. All these people would loose their jobs in every state if we thought of a solution to cut it down. Not many give a rats ass about the root cause as to why people get into prison in the first place. I just don't see an end in sight when something this large creates or is tied into the economy. I think we will just build more and put more people their so people will have jobs at the warehouse.

[stillcool]

13. so many of our prisons are run...

by global corporations...and they guard our nuclear facilities as well. I think that the fact that I, and you, have learned so much about this stuff means that other people have too. There is so much more information available to us now, and another war, with another generation of damaged people might just draw enough attention to the problem that something will be done to alleviate the suffering and injustice of our justice system. Hope springs eternal.

[High Plains]

7. But Castro is a dictator!

[varkam]

10. And we need more!

Obviously, we're not nearly safe enough yet.

[lonestarnot]

12. People need jobs. Why would anyone want to displace workers into

"meaningful" jobs.