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[Frenchfry]

"Florida inmates convicted of non-violent drug crimes spent 194 percent more time behind bars in 2009 than they did in 1990, costing the state billions of dollars but providing little public safety benefit, a new study found. The study, by the Pew Center on the States, examined trends in 35 states that provided data on incarceration for inmates convicted of violent crimes, property crimes and drug offenses. It found that nationally, state inmates across all categories of offenses served an average of nine additional months in custody, a rise of 36 percent since 1990. Florida led all states with an increase of 166 percent in time served for all prisoners. The rise in time served costs states an estimated $10 billion per year, the study found...".

Time Spent In Prison For Drugs Has Exploded Since The 90's

[Frenchfry]

Men Raped More Than Women In U.S.?

"This week, the Department of Justice published new standards addressing the epidemic of rape and sexual abuse in our nation's prisons. The guidelines, which apply immediately to federal prisons and give financial incentives for states to comply, are a laudable, widely praised, and long overdue step in combating rape in the United States.
The American Action Forum, a Wall Street-funded group whose C(4) runs millions of dollars in attack ads against Democrats, responded by lambasting the move as too "costly" and "complicated." From their report...".* Who supports prison-rape?

Men Raped More Than Women In U.S.?

[Frenchfry]

Wrongly Convicted: LaMonte Armstrong Freed After 17 Years In Prison
"A man who spent nearly 17 years in prison for murder walked free on Friday after authorities discovered evidence that law officers and prosecutors hid key details from defense lawyers during his trial. Superior Court Judge Joe Turner ordered that LaMonte Armstrong, 62, be released from prison where he was serving a life sentence. Armstrong was convicted in 1995 for the 1988 killing of Ernestine Compton, one of his former professors at North Carolina A&T State University...".

Wrongly Convicted: LaMonte Armstrong Freed After 17 Years In Prison

[Frenchfry]

Your Tax $ Wasted On Private Prisons Locking-Up Undocumented Immigrants

[Frenchfry]

"In Michigan, State Rep. Jon Bumstead (R) introduced a bill that would send the state back down the path of prison privatization. House Bill 1574 would re-open a private youth prison that was operated by GEO Group (then Wackenhut) that was shut down in 2005 and allow it to house adult inmates. The bill would once again give GEO the right to operate the prison.

This proposal has faced fierce protests from civil liberties and civil rights groups, which note that the prison was one of the most expensive to operate in the state when it was previously operated by GEO, and that it was also notorious for abuse of prisoners...Nine days before he introduced the bill, he [Bumstead] received a $500 contribution from Cloid Shuler, a GEO Group executive based in Florida. This makes Shuler tied with one other individual as Bumstead's top individual donor...".* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur shares his thoughts.

Can't post YouTube link...too much cussing.


Rep. Bumstead struggles to answer questions on apparent pay-to-play prison bill scheme
 State Rep. Jon Bum­stead (R-Newaygo) is strug­gling to answer ques­tions about an appar­ent pay-to-play scheme on his prison pri­va­ti­za­tion leg­is­la­tion. Yes­ter­day MIRS News and Gong­wer reported that Bum­stead accepted a $500 cam­paign con­tri­bu­tion from a senior Busi­ness Devel­op­ment exec­u­tive with GEO Group, Inc., a Florida-based pri­vate prison cor­po­ra­tion that stands to profit under Bumstead’s bill, HB 5147.
http://wearethepeoplemichigan.com/2012/02/16/rep-bumstead-struggles-to-answer-questions-on-apparent-pay-to-play-prison-bill-scheme/

[Frenchfry]

"Between 1987 & 2007 Nationwide Spending On Prisons Increased 127%"

[Frenchfry]

Bottom line: "Tough on crime" really screwed the country up!

Louisiana's Prison Incarceration Rate Is 16 Times More Than China! (They Hate Us For Our "Freedom")

Louisiana's Prison Incarceration Rate Is 16 Times More Than China! (They Hate Us For Our "Freedom")

"Is It Possible To Imagine OUR Party Saying Build Schools Not Prisons?"

"Is It Possible To Imagine OUR Party Saying Build Schools Not Prisons?" A: "Not Right Now"

[Frenchfry]

Spending More On Prisons Than Colleges - Report

"There's a direct relationship between how much money the Golden State spends on prisons and how much it spends on higher education, according to a report put out by the non-partisan public policy group California Common Sense. When one goes up, the other goes down. And, at least in California, the former has been going up a lot more than the latter. The study, entitled Winners and Losers: Corrections and Higher Education in California, looked at the state's general fund expenditures on corrections and higher education from the period between 1981 and 2011. Since 1980, higher education spending has decreased by 13 percent in inflation adjusted dollars, whereas spending on California's prisons and associated correctional programs has skyrocketed by 436 percent...".

Spending More On Prisons Than Colleges - Report

[Frenchfry]

It seems that there is growing trend in America the education system is getting fewer and fewer dollars. Already, some schools are experiencing classes that are filled beyond capacity and in some cases teachers are being forced totake pay cuts. On the contrary, the prison system budgets are swelling out-of-control. Since the 1980's, the budget for education in California has decreased by 13 percent, but at the same time the spending for California prisons has increased by 436 percent. Marc Mauer, executive director for the Sentencing Project, joins us with more on these alarming numbers.

California spends more on prisons than colleges

[Frenchfry]

World's largest imprisoned population ignored

The are more imprisoned people in the US then anywhere else: 2.2 million people are behind the bars in almost 5,000 prisons across the country. And there is also big money involved - from lucrative contracts for utilities to the growing private prison business.
However this topic hasn't been discussed in the 2012 presidential campaign probably due to the fact that most states don't allow felons to vote. RT's Liz Wahl has the details.

World's largest imprisoned population ignored

[Frenchfry]

Guards Let Inmates Run Prison

"A gang war that appears to have taken over parts of an Idaho private prison is spilling into the federal courts, with some inmates contending prison officials are ceding control to gang leaders in an effort to save money on staffing.

Eight inmates at the Idaho Correctional Center are suing the Corrections Corporation of America, contending the company is working with a few powerful prison gangs to control the facility south of Boise.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in Boise's U.S. District Court, paints the prison as a place where correctional officers work in fear of angering inmate gang members and where housing supervisors ask permission from gang leaders before moving anyone new into an empty cell. The inmates also contend that CCA officials use gang violence and the threat of gang violence as an "inexpensive device to gain control over the inmate population," according to the lawsuit, and that housing gang members together allows the company to use fewer guards, reducing payroll costs."*

Cenk Uygur, Ana Kasparian, and Ben Mankiewicz (Host, Turner Classic Movies) discuss the story, potential danger therein, and the many pitfalls of privatized prisons.

Sons of Anarchy? Guards Let Inmates Run Prison

[Frenchfry]

Prison-industrial complex charges inmates enormous fees for phone calls

The prison industrial complex has continuously increased their profits, and with the expanding number of people behind bars in the US, the price of phone calls from prison has gone up as well. One company is charging $1.13 per minute in a Georgia state prison, and Drew Kukorowski, research associate for Prison Policy Initiative, joins us with more on the phone service in prisons and how the FCC might play a role in controlling rates.

Prison-industrial complex charges inmates enormous fees for phone calls

[Frenchfry]

The US is just five days away from going over the Fiscal Cliff and Republicans and Democrats have yet to come to an agreement on how and where America should cut back on spending. In Oregon, a county jail has recently released prisoners due to the fact that they can no longer afford to house them. Many other states are worried that government cut backs could lead to more criminals walking the streets. Meghan Lopez has more on the potential outcomes of going over the fiscal cliff.

Fiscal cliff to force prisons release convicts

[Frenchfry]

Cuss warning

"For hours at a time, Ronaldo Marcelo Wanderlei da Silva pedals on a stationary bike for a cause. But it is not an ordinary bike, nor an ordinary cause.

Da Silva is an inmate at the prison in Santa Rita do Sapucai,Brazil, near Sao Paulo. He is among a small group of inmates who have been given the chance to lower their sentences by exercising on customized stationary bikes attached to car batteries that charge as they pedal. The batteries are in turn used to power street lights in the local plaza."*

In Brazil, prisoners can reduce their sentences by reading books and turning in reports. Is this a good model for rehabilitation around the world? Or open for error?

Reduced Prison Time for Book Reports?

[Frenchfry]

Mandatory minimum sentences

Since the 1980's, the US has been fighting a long war on drugs. Former First Lady Nancy Reagan created the "Just Say No" campaign to discourage the youth from getting involved in drugs. Around the same time, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 allowed prosecutors to implement mandatory minimum sentences for drug related cases, but are these type of sentences effective justice?

Mandatory minimum sentences target minorities

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The Devastating Effects of Mandatory Minimum Sentences

In America mandatory minimum sentence laws have left thousands behind bars for their alleged involvement in drug cases. Many critics believe the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 has directly and unfairly targeted minorities and believe reformation is overdue.

The Devastating Effects of Mandatory Minimum Sentences