1 in 100 U.S. Adults have been to jail

Hmmmm, so 1% of the adult population of the US of A has been found guilty of breaking the law and punished by serving time in prison. I dunno, but 1 in 100 doesn't seem all that high. I mean, I am acquainted with a few hundred people and I know half a dozen people who have been to prison. And before you ask, I'm a law-abiding citizen :D
 
I think that a slightly more worrying statistic is that since the year 2000, 1 in 11 Americans going to jail has been sent there for life.
 
at the risk of creating an i hate america thread am i the only one who thinks thats really stupidly high

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/u...t&emc=rss&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Actually, it's "1 in 100 U.S. Adults Behind Bars". Which is even worse than "1 in 100 U.S. Adults have been to jail", since the former requires the latter to be true, but the latter does not require the former to be true.

It's an obscenely high amount - and somewhat ironic, considering that the US began as a British penal colony.

The question is, does this reflect legitimately tougher sentencing, unusually high crime rates, draconian legislation, or a combination of these factors?
 
Indeed it was, but was it started as a Penal colony? I don't think it was.

That's true enough; I must confess to some exaggeration. Georgia was the first penal colony, and the 13th British colony. So the policy did begin at a very early stage.
 
That's true enough; I must confess to some exaggeration. Georgia was the first penal colony, and the 13th British colony. So the policy did begin at a very early stage.
Sorry, I wasn't really trying to be pedantic. For probably the first time I can remember :eek:.
 
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