1 in 100 Americans in prison?

I found this video, it was posted in twitter, but i was blown away by the amount of American Citizens in Gail, and how some of them get there, and what they do while they are in Gail.

It is suggested in the clip, the there is a three strikes system, commit two relatively serious crimes, go to Gail, but if you commit a third, no matter how serious, you get a life sentence, is this true? They go on to say, that it can be likened to "back door slavery" as the prisoners make large amounts of products used in the us, things like military gear, domestic appliances etc, is this also true?

you can tell, although these people are comedians, that some of them ate quite shocked when the statistics a read out, some of these people will make a joke out of anything but this seems to hit a nerve with all of them, and that is quite something to do. So My question is this true? and what do the Americans on ATS think about it if it is? Thanks for your time. Neo.



just in case the link doesn't work here is a direct link to the clip
youtube 1 in 100 Americans in Gail

Can someone please smack that comedian? He almost made me not watch the video to the end! [Someone should tell him too that a few years ago, the British were fatter than the Americans!]

That said, there are a ridiculous amount of people in jail in America. (Using the number of inmates to compare to the rest of the world seems a little unfair though since America has more people than most countries.) It's hard to say exactly how I feel but I'll give it a shot. Somewhere along the road, the justice system has been taken over and is being run, it seems, by really conservative Puritan like people. That may be an exaggeration, but just think of all the people that are in prison in America for committing crimes that are victimless. In America, you are frowned upon more if you were caught with a dime bag in your car than if you raped a woman. This is reflected how the legal system will keep the guy in jail who was busted with pot but commute the sentence of a rapist. It's stupid.

Basically, what I think needs to be done, is victimless crimes shouldn't be punished with jail terms. It's utterly stupid.

Well, according to this1 in 32 Americans is under some sort of correctional supervision (jail, parole, or probation) and 1 in 142 are actually in jail.

Yes, the US has a 3 strike rule upon your third offence you get a life sentence, and yes I agree that it is ludicrous.

I think the 3 strike rule varies from state to state, and only for certain offenses. For example, violent offenses would qualify for the three strikes, whereas more minor crimes (like petty theft) might not.

Having said that, I do believe our justice system needs to be rehauled. It really depends on what you think is the point of jail....punishment, or rehabilitation?

reply to post by neo5842


Oh, something about the "three strikes" rule is that it's not a blanket thing for the whole nation. So, to say that "America" does this, is kinda misleading. Each state uses the policy differently; some nay not use it at all. For example, Florida, where I'm from, only uses a three strikes rule on crimes where a gun is pulled, not for crimes that are deemed "serious" enough.

reply to post by smyleegrl


Yes, I believe you are correct, it seems 24 states have enacted this law, California has been brought to the Supreme Court twice on this issue, and to date it has been upheld.

Hi Neo, yes Gaol is one of America's sins. 1 in 100 Americans are in Jail, god knows how many illegal aliens are in there. I have heard estimates that 1/4 of the prison population is illegals.

It;s not just the three strikes rule that sentences so many but drug "crimes" have blown up the numbers substantially. So much for "land of the free". The prison-industrial complex is our biggest growth industry. Where there's money to be made the laws will be made to fit. This explosion in prisons is most due to crack coc aine which is a greater problem in black neighborhoods that any other. Kids are still willing to risk it and have money for a short while rather than work and save for the same things. Cultural values gone awry? Possibly. At any rate it;s an expense we can't afford. Another millstone around the neck of the average taxpayer.

I think the hosts last point about America reinventing the slave trade is especially poignant. I wish to learn more about the prison industrial complex precisely because I think leaders of the US when weighing our national debt might find imprisoning more and more Americans an attractive way of "leveling the playing field" with say China.

I think prisoners rights- those of American prisoners- is more important than "immigrant rights." We should stop criminalizing so many things and address why our culture produces so much crime.

Attica! Attica!


PS- I love the comedian, Jimmy Carr, he's very funny.

I think those with drug charges should be made to go under some sort of rehab, not thrown in prison ( unless they are smugglers) So many in prison are addicts. Jail does nothing to help the problem. Leave the prison beds for the rapists, the killers, and thieves. Most are privatized. Why not privatize some sort of rehab facilities , that actually help people, rather than put them in a system where they are subject to rape, gangs and those problems that will just make them want to escape life even more when they get out. We need to give hope to people if we want to really fix this problem.

truth is it is just big business when it comes to jails and drugs. They just need a different business plan.

USA have largest prison population not only in absolute numbers but also per 100.000 citizens. There is nice table on BBC . Welcome to Libertystan ...

Let us break this down.

If you go to jail,you get,free housing,clothing and food.Health care is free

You can go to school for free earning a high school or college level diploma and you have access to a gym that law abiding citizens do not.

Yes I can see why there may be a lot of repeat offenders and I could see why there are illegals because they become criminals the moment they cross the border.

They are allowed a lot of things the normal person has to pay for.

Slavery? I think not.

Well, one of the reasons for having heavy prison sentences for everything drug-related is rather obvious in my mind. It's designed to keep the prices for drugs high (pun not intended, I think). And who benefits from drug trade? The black budgets.

It's a win-win situation. It's a terrific tool for oppressing minorities (blacks mainly) Just look at the difference in punishment for crack vs coc aine. Who uses what? And it keeps a steady flow of slave-labour into a privatized prison system.

After all, who can find a logical reason for pot being illegal while alcohol and tobacco are not?

Not to mention the fight to keep civil rights and liberties. A third of you have already lost it through the prison system. Ex-con? rights? Yeah, right... Only two-thirds to go...



[edit on 9-2-2010 by Koyaanisqatsi]

America does have the most amount of people in its prisons than any other nation in the world.

So much for the country with "Freedom".

In recent years, there has been much debate over the privatization of prisons. The argument for privatization stresses cost reduction, whereas the arguments against it focus on standards of care, and the question of whether a market economy for prisons might not also lead to a market demand for prisoners (tougher sentencing for cheap labor). While privatized prisons have only a short history, there is a long tradition of inmates in state and federal-run prisons undertaking active employment in prison for low pay.

A report released Feb. 28, 2008 indicates that more than 1 in 100 adults in the United States are in prison.[12] The United States has less than 5% of the world's population[25] and 23.4% of the world's prison population.[4]

Source

It's a cottage industry: cops, lawyers, judges, privatized prisons, cheap labor. Everyone profits except the prisoners and the taxpayers who have to support the families on food stamps & welfare. And society due to the broken families bringing a generation of messed up kids with no fathers & mothers.

reply to post by calcoastseeker


Have you ever been inside a prison? I have as a volunteer, and a relative worked there for years. It is extremely sad. Some belong there, many do not.

reply to post by calcoastseeker



Please read this article and do some own research based on it. One can think that US prison industry is some kind of social benefit for inmates. Well it can be for minority (earlier hobos in Europe did minor crimes to get into prison for winter months) but sure not for majority of sentenced. Society as whole is losing - in majority of cases is better "bad" daddy then NO daddy for children (this is only ONE example). Please do your homework on psychological view on personality development of children.
So who is actually gaining from US prison population? Quote from above mentioned link:

Who is investing? At least 37 states have legalized the contracting of prison labor by private corporations that mount their operations inside state prisons. The list of such companies contains the cream of U.S. corporate society: IBM, Boeing, Motorola, Microsoft, AT&T, Wireless, Texas Instrument, Dell, Compaq, Honeywell, Hewlett-Packard, Nortel, Lucent Technologies, 3Com, Intel, Northern Telecom, TWA, Nordstrom's, Revlon, Macy's, Pierre Cardin, Target Stores, and many more. All of these businesses are excited about the economic boom generation by prison labor. Just between 1980 and 1994, profits went up from $392 million to $1.31 billion. Inmates in state penitentiaries generally receive the minimum wage for their work, but not all; in Colorado, they get about $2 per hour, well under the minimum. And in privately-run prisons, they receive as little as 17 cents per hour for a maximum of six hours a day, the equivalent of $20 per month. The highest-paying private prison is CCA in Tennessee, where prisoners receive 50 cents per hour for what they call "highly skilled positions." At those rates, it is no surprise that inmates find the pay in federal prisons to be very generous. There, they can earn $1.25 an hour and work eight hours a day, and sometimes overtime. They can send home $200-$300 per month.

God bless corporate America.

EDIT: 2x bad html tags

[edit on 9-2-2010 by zeddissad]

[edit on 9-2-2010 by zeddissad]

reply to post by zeddissad


I read the article you linked to. I am truly appalled. However it confirms my views about the ulterior motive of American prisons.

I am a Norwegian myself, and I must say there are differences...
Here is an article about the Norwegian prison system.

We are literally worlds apart...

"The biggest mistake that our societies have made is to believe that you must punish hard to change criminals," explained Oeyvind Alnaes, Bastoey's then-prison governor. "This is wrong. The big closed prisons are criminal schools. If you treat people badly, they will behave badly. Anyone can be a citizen if we treat them well, respect them, and give them challenges and demands."

BTW: It's an interesting read.

[edit on 9-2-2010 by Koyaanisqatsi]

[edit on 9-2-2010 by Koyaanisqatsi]

The US has a lot of people who break the law. I don't think that's a problem with the justice system, it's a problem with the US population.

Twenty years ago when I went to school, having a parent or relative in jail was taboo. You wouldn't mention it to anyone, you would keep it a dark secret, and if it was discovered the humiliation would be extreme.

I now teach school, in a rural part of NC. Just the other day one of my students mentioned his father was getting out of jail soon. This in turn inspired several other students to comment on jailed relatives.

I was shocked. These children weren't embarrassed or upset by the fact that their relatives were in jail; in fact, many of them almost seemed to view it as a rite of passage to manhood. Having a criminal record gives you credibility as a street thug.

I believe the whole mind-set and purpose of prison has changed. If we truly intend to deter crime, perhaps we need to make prison less hospitable?

reply to post by smyleegrl


I will pose the same question I asked the other person:

Have you ever been inside a prison? I have as a volunteer, and a relative worked there for years. It is extremely sad. Some belong there, many do not.

If you think "less hospitable" will make crime go down, you must not have ever seen the inside of a prison. Significant numbers of non-violent offenders (many mentally ill) become violent and more expert criminals with gang affiliations, connections and know-how when are in prison. They become "big-time".