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This comparison is risible. First of all, you actually do have to commit a crime to go to prison, in the vast majority of cases. Second, the details of your tri

This comparison is risible. First of all, you actually do have to commit a crime to go to prison, in the vast majority of cases. Second, the details of your trial (and appeal) are public. The "mass incarceration" meme has been too successful for it's own good, so successful that people seem earnestly to believe that most prisoners are innocent or there for spurious reasons, but it's simply not the case. The median state prisoner in the U.S. is a violent offender with a long rap sheet.

gruez 5y ago
>The median state prisoner in the U.S. is a violent offender with a long rap sheet. source?
- dionidium 5y ago
  As the chart here shows, violent offenders are the largest category of prisoners: https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2020.html https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2020.html This chart reveals a lot of problems with our system. Are too many people in jail for drugs? Sure, probably. (But it's nowhere near the largest category.) Do we have a big problem with getting people in local jails to speedy trials? Yes, absolutely. Are our sentences too long? Yes, in some cases. But most people in prison committed a serious crime. I don't have the data on the "long rap sheet" portion of my claim, though I would encourage you to look out for it every time there's a news story about a high-profile arrest. The list of previous crimes in most cases would be comical if it weren't so tragic. Additionally, studies of released inmates show very high recidivism rates. One study showed that, "401,288 state prisoners released in 2005 had 1,994,000 arrests during the 9-year period, an average of 5 arrests per released prisoner". Source: https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/2018-update-prisoner-recidivism-9-year-follow-period-2005-2014 https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/2018-update-prisone...

gruez 5y ago

>The median state prisoner in the U.S. is a violent offender with a long rap sheet. source?

dionidium 5y ago
As the chart here shows, violent offenders are the largest category of prisoners: https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2020.html https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2020.html This chart reveals a lot of problems with our system. Are too many people in jail for drugs? Sure, probably. (But it's nowhere near the largest category.) Do we have a big problem with getting people in local jails to speedy trials? Yes, absolutely. Are our sentences too long? Yes, in some cases. But most people in prison committed a serious crime. I don't have the data on the "long rap sheet" portion of my claim, though I would encourage you to look out for it every time there's a news story about a high-profile arrest. The list of previous crimes in most cases would be comical if it weren't so tragic. Additionally, studies of released inmates show very high recidivism rates. One study showed that, "401,288 state prisoners released in 2005 had 1,994,000 arrests during the 9-year period, an average of 5 arrests per released prisoner". Source: https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/2018-update-prisoner-recidivism-9-year-follow-period-2005-2014 https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/2018-update-prisone...