Here Are All Of The Nations That Incarcerate More Of Their Population Than The U.S.

[BainsBane]

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None


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/13/incarceration-rate-per-capita_n_3745291.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

[TexasTowelie]

1. We're #1.

[BainsBane]

3. We're still number one in something

In the prison population and the number of guns.

[AZ Progressive]

2. Yay, we beat Rwanda!

[eridani]

4. I seriously wish they'd shitcan the data from all the islands

Small countries with minuscule populations could jump up or down a half a dozen levels with changes in their prison populations of as few as 20 people.

[BainsBane]

6. Yeah, I'm surprised China isn't on that list.

[eridani]

7. I bet it would be if they got rid of the island data n/t

[Lasher]

10. China is #124

Complete list here

[Art_from_Ark]

11. I guess they don't count labor camps in the data

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/05/27/asia-pacific/spotlight-shines-on-chinas-labor-camps/#.Ugs3TeDxrWE

[BainsBane]

14. Yeah, wouldn't be a shock if they under reported

[Warren Stupidity]

26. It seems that china is 170 without the "re-education" camps or 121 with.

But the point is we are number 1. China isn't even close, no matter how you set the numbers.

[Art_from_Ark]

34. I have a really, really hard time believing the Chinese data,

given that Chinese government corruption is rampant, that it still has not apologized for the massacre at Tienamen Square, and that it only recently admitted that it had engaged in organ harvesting of executed prisoners. There is no way to independently verify the government's data, so it can make up anything to present itself in a better light.

[Warren Stupidity]

40. I'm amazed (not) at the responses here that are "but those foreigners".

We have a mess in our own backyard.

[Art_from_Ark]

42. I am a "foreigner" where I live

I know a lot of ex-pat Chinese here in Japan, as well as Japanese who have tried to do business in China, and I had a Chinese officemate during the Tienamen Square massacre. None of them have painted a very rosy picture of life in China. Official corruption is rampant, and I'm sure the Chinese government would have no qualms about lying about the official incarceration statistics, especially considering the number of acts that are considered imprisonable offenses in China.

[Warren Stupidity]

45. China does execute a lot of people.

Nobody is claiming anywhere near enough to outrank the USA as maintaining the number one gulag on the planet.

[KharmaTrain]

36. China Has A Simple Solution...

...for keeping those statistics low...they're called executions. According to wiki over 2,000 in 2012 (compared to 43 in the US)...and my bets those numbers are under-reported.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_capital_punishment_by_country

[struggle4progress]

29. China may simply resolve potential imprisonment issues by execution

[PowerToThePeople]

5. USA! USA! USA!

[David__77]

8. And what a catastrophic failure this is.

We need a general amnesty for various crimes. Seriously, an amnesty and phased reintegration with society for about 750,000 individuals. The Rockefeller "war on drugs" was the first salvo to turn this country into the world's leading jailer.

[BainsBane]

9. Yep, most of it is drugs

The completely failed war on drugs. There should be no jail for non-violent drug offenders. It needs to be treated as a public health problem.

Obviously the private prison industrial complex is driving much of this.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

17. We had one year were we locked up 750,000 for WEED.

[BainsBane]

18. Seriously?

Nearly a million for marijuana?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

20. It was in an article on MSNBC.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

19. Judges don't need to be sending people off to rehab either....

That's just creating another for-profit industry.

[joshcryer]

25. Only about 20% is drugs, actually.

Another 20% are property. The vast majority are violent offenders like rapists, murderers, assaults, etc.

I'm not saying the drug charges are legitimate, I'm just correcting this popular myth. We should get those 20% out of jail, immediately, as they're non-violent "offenses."

[Warren Stupidity]

27. Not so fast there.

Most of the property crimes, assaults, and murders are directly related to the war on drugs. End the war on drugs, legalize non-addictive drugs and give addicts legal access to cheap narcotics, and eliminate most of the serious crime that has filled our prisons.

[joshcryer]

32. Do you have a citation for that?

I'd think that alcohol is responsible for most violent crime, to be honest.

edit: drug use and poverty are responsible as well. But poverty is not directly tied to the drug war nor is drug use. Those are completely different animals. If you legalized meth, for instance, there would be a shitload of really fucked addicts roaming the streets (meth is one drug I believe should be regulated and socially admonished, it's simply a nasty drug).

[BainsBane]

43. How do you know this?

Do you have a source you can point me to? That really surprises me.

[John2]

21. Many of those

those people are the poor and minorities, who don't have legal representation as much as a well off person. There are probably some innocent people in there also, that have been railroaded by the system. Justice is not equal in this country. I have found that out having been introduced to it a number of times. I was appalled to learn the State Attorney General of North Carolina only take complaints for Consumers, but not against groups or elected Officials violating State laws. A county Sheriff for example can violate anybody's rights in the State of North Carolina with very little oversight. The only investigated procedure for Law Enforcement agencies is mostly internal. It is like they are guarding the hen house. There are a lot of people hiding behind the color of law and violating Civil rights. It is a serious problem in this country.

[joshcryer]

24. Take out the 20% of non-violent drug offenders.

The data changes significantly:



Contrary to popular myth, American offenders are violent offenders. Non-violent offenders have been dropping since the 90s, due in large part to progressives pushing to let them go.

[Warren Stupidity]

28. Again, WOD is the direct cause of most violent crime.

[joshcryer]

33. I looked it up, you're simply wrong:

http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/crime

Control+F "violent crime." You'll see that drug arrests far outnumber violent crime and in fact most anti-drug war arguments tend to point out that drug offenders are non-violent.

If you're now going to claim that drug offenders are violent, then I have a bridge to sell you.

[Warren Stupidity]

41. No my claim is that the war on drugs is a direct cause of violent crime.

[blkmusclmachine]

12. FREEDUMB! FREEDUMB! FREEDUMB!

U$A! U$A! U$A!

[Comrade Grumpy]

13. Hah! Take that, St. Kitts and Nevis!

[Enthusiast]

15. But aside from our incarceration rate we are the bestest!

You people forget the glory of shock and awe! And other great stuff.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

16. During the Bush Years some Republican Thug bragged about giving Iraq a primo prison....

You can't free the Iraqi people unless you lock them up,...it's the American Way.

[B Calm]

22. Is this what they mean when they say Freedom isn't Free?

[joshcryer]

23. Cuba and Russia are 6th and 7th here.

Yet cheered on a regular basis here.

Food for thought.

Do we really care about incarceration rates or is it about US vs the world?

I frankly think an incarceration rate above 50 is shameful.

[Warren Stupidity]

30. Yes we should ignore the shit going on here and focus on those foreigners,

Some of whom are still commies.

[joshcryer]

31. Or we could focus on shit here.

And not use those other countries as examples, in fact, if they say shit about us, we should point out their shit, too, and stop pretending they have a moral compass as which to judge us.

[mick063]

38. "Cheered on a regular basis"

This is an outright falsehood.

I have yet to see those nations cheered on DU by more than one or two outliers.

You, sir, have lost much credibility with me.

[davidn3600]

35. And now the Tea Party wants to hand off the system to corporations

Criminal justice is now an industry with profit-motive.

[liberal N proud]

37. There's profit in them thar prisons

Only in America!

[ProSense]

39. Which is why

this is a big deal.

ACLU: How to Process Eric Holder’s Major Criminal Law Reform Speech
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023451453

As Pressure Mounts, Holder Acts on Sentencing Reform (FEATURE)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023458672

[BainsBane]

44. the racial disparities are stark

particularly in drug sentencing.