1 percent of U.S. adults behind bars

[whopis01]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/28/prison.population.ap/index.html

Using updated state-by-state data, the report said 2,319,258 adults were held in U.S. prisons or jails at the start of 2008 -- one out of every 99.1 adults, and more than any other country in the world.

"For some groups, the incarceration numbers are especially startling," the report said. "While one in 30 men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars, for black males in that age group the figure is one in nine."

The nationwide figures, as of January 1, include 1,596,127 people in state and federal prisons and 723,131 in local jails -- a total 2,319,258 out of almost 230 million American adults.

[Demeter]

1. I Think It's The Wrong One Percent

There are some confessed heinous criminals walking free AND drawing government paychecks, not to mention perks, bribes, and wielding undue influence on public and private life.

[Red Zelda]

2. 11 percent of U.S. adults AT bars

Next round's on me.

[soothsayer]

3. It's big business! Now that prisons are privatized. What do you think

the three strikes laws are about? Keeping bodies in beds....that's how the contractors get paid.

[BB1]

4. Damn! I just decided not to smoke all day!

There goes the neighborhood...

(I own an Ice-T tape from 1991, in which he exclaims: "At this moment, there are more black males in prison, than in college." Today, that must be "At this moment, there are twice as many black males in prison, than in college." Sad.)