Monday, October 24, 2005
Land of the Free?
U.S. Total Population 296 million U.S. Prison Population 2.3 million
China Total Population 1.3 billion China Prison Population 1.5 million
This figures come from King's College in London. I didn't do a personal census to confirm the numbers, but they are still frightening to see. In spite of this our city is having one of its highest murder runs with only a 25% rate of solving the homicides. Last week some 15 year old shot another 15 year old in their high school hallway. I think we've had a total of 22 murders so far that they've counted. This total in a decaying city of around 61,000 people.
That means about 1 out every 100 people in the United States is in jail! Think about that for a minute. If you're at a high school football game with 1000 people in the stands, there's nearly a whole 'nother football team worth of people in jail. For every 50 or 60 cars you pass on the road, there's the equivalent of someone's mom or dad or brother or sister locked up behind bars. Land of the free indeed.
