Men in Prison

David Swanson justice, news January 23, 2012February 15, 2012

The following graphic comes from Philip N. Cohen at Sociological Images; visit the site for another alarming graphic along with some commentary. His statistics come from a recently released report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Published January 23, 2012February 15, 2012

4 thoughts on “Men in Prison”

Edith says:

January 25, 2012 at 3:02 pm

I think everyone should read “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander. It explains the reasons behind the numbers. Oh, it will make you angry too, as it should.

Reply
1. David Swanson says:
  
  January 25, 2012 at 3:13 pm
  
  It’s the next book on my pile. Just recently heard an excellent interview with the author: http://www.npr.org/2012/01/16/145175694/legal-scholar-jim-crow-still-exists-in-america
  
  Reply
Alan Archibald says:

January 26, 2012 at 9:47 am

I stumbled on “Signs of Life” while googling Wendell Berry’s reference to “The Territory of Righteousness.” Then, I read “Leaving Christianity” with keen interest. And now I find this exchange over Michelle Alexander’s work – and her superb interview on NPR. My blog “Pax On Both Houses” may be of interest – http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/ Thanks for the good work you do.

Reply
Slowriver says:

January 27, 2012 at 10:08 am

I have stumbled on your blog looking for news and christian perspectives on various issues. I am from Africa and I am naturally interested in issues concerning blacks worldwide. I think that people who are in jail are either people who have actually commited crimes or innocents who were wrongly sent there. I am convinced that the American judicial system although with flaws as any human system works better than what we see in our Third World countries and consequently a lower number of innocents are wrongly sentenced. So I think the question to ask is why blacks apparently commit more crimes. As a black man I know very much about our seemingly constant victimization mentality: it’s not our fault, its because of colonialism or slaveryetc. Racism is a sad and ugly reality but we blacks should be also more sincere with ourselves and see how we are sometimes giving ourselves ammunitions to racists by failing to really think on how to avoid the pitfalls that the system wants us to fall into and also by our lack of intellectual sincerity to admit our own failures in the advancement of our race.
English not being my first language, apologies for my clumsy style.

Reply