Dawn F. Harkness (dawn@harkness.net)
Fri, 17 Nov 2000 15:53:24 -0500
Woty wrote:
>In a message dated 11/17/2000 8:51:04 AM US Eastern Standard Time,
>dawn@harkness.net writes:
>
>> At least there, the majority of inmates richly deserve their
incarceration,
>> and you could do them and society a favor if you were able to slip them a
>few
>> pearls of knowledge.
>>
>
>I thought that most people in prison were there for drug offenses and other
>consensual crimes. Does anyone have stats on this?
>
>~Woty
Nope Woty, I believe you are mistaken according to the Bureau of Justice
statistics which I have cut and pasted for your perusal. But even if you
were correct in your belief that too many people are incarcerated for drug
offenses, there remains a huge distinction between those folks and the
citizenry who are incarcerated in traditional schools. That distinction is
that citizens between the ages of 6 and 16 have not even been accused of a
crime let alone afforded due process before they are incarcerated.
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Number of persons in custody of State correctional authorities
by most serious offense, 1980-98
Violent Property Drug Public order
1980 173,300 89,300 19,000 12,400
1981 193,300 100,500 21,700 14,600
1982 215,300 114,400 25,300 17,800
1983 214,600 127,100 26,600 24,400
1984 227,300 133,100 31,700 21,900
1985 246,200 140,100 38,900 23,000
1986 258,600 150,200 45,400 28,800
1987 271,300 155,500 57,900 31,300
1988 282,700 161,600 79,100 35,000
1989 293,900 172,700 120,100 39,500
1990 313,600 173,700 148,600 45,500
1991 339,500 180,700 155,200 49,500
1992 369,100 181,600 168,100 56,300
1993 393,500 189,600 177,000 64,000
1994 425,700 207,000 193,500 74,400
1995 459,600 226,600 212,800 86,500
1996 484,800 231,700 216,900 96,000
1997 507,800 236,400 222,100 106,200
1998 545,200 242,900 236,800 113,900
Source: Correctional Populations in the United States, 1996,
and Prisoners in 1999
Violent offenses include murder, negligent and non-negligent
manslaughter, rape, sexual assault, robbery, assault, extortion,
intimidation, criminal endangerment, and other violent offenses.
Property offenses include burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft,
fraud, possession and selling of stolen property, destruction
of property, trespassing, vandalism, criminal tampering, and other
property offenses.
Drug offenses include possession, manufacturing, trafficking,
and other drug offenses.
Public-order offenses include weapons, drunk driving, escape/flight
to avoid prosecution, court offenses, obstruction, commercialized
vice, morals and decency charges, liquor law violations,
and other public-order offenses.
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