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New York Times editorial on "Prison Nation"

By Douglas A. Berman

Joining the chorus of papers commenting on the recent Pew Center report, "One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008" (discussed here), today the New York Times has this editorial titled "Prison Nation."  Here are excerpts:After three decades of explosive growth, the nation?s prison population has reached some grim milestones: More than 1 in 100 American adults are behind bars. One in nine black men, ages 20 to 34, are serving time, as are 1 in 36 adult Hispanic men. Nationwide, the prison population hovers at almost 1.6 million, which surpasses all other countries for which there are reliable figures. The 50 states last year spent about $44 billion in tax dollars on corrections, up from nearly $11 billion in 1987.  Vermont, Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan and Oregon devote as much money or more to corrections as they do to higher education...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on March 10, 2008 (boomark / email).