NY Times and WA Post

According to articles by the NY Times and the Washington Post in 2008, America imprisons more people than any other country.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/world/americas/23iht-23prison.12253738.html



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/02/28/ST2008022803016.html



We had 2.3 million people imprisoned at the time these articles were written.

This number consitutes a fourth of the world's prison population!



Other interesting statistics cited:



*One in 9 black men are in jail between the ages of 20 to 34.

*751 for every 100,000 Americans (all ages) are incarcerated versus 151 in 100,000 for England.

*Prisoners cost citizens $55 billion a year... what is that?
55,000,000,000 divided by 300,000,000 is about $183 that every man woman and child in the US pays to keep people in prison. That doesn't include parole or probation or policing efforts or the impact of lost workers in the community.



The Bureau of Justice Statistics website is a great place to find reports regarding prison rates.

"Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2002" can be found online at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/pjim02.htm