Prisons should keep criminals behind bars so they can’t cause any problems anymore but not everything in the American prison system seems to go right. Here are some shocking facts about US prisons. Subscribe to World5List http://goo.gl/cpJSA6 Find us on... -- http://www.boredbadger.com -- http://www.facebook.com/world5list The prison system in America is an enormous industry, surrounded by conflict both behind bars and outside in the political world. We have all heard horror stories about what goes on in prison, but there are some odd and disturbing truths that don’t often reach the public. Coming up… Staggering populations, the hidden costs of death row inmates, the innocents behind bars, and more. Join us as we take a look at the shocking facts about American Prisons! Population It is true that America has a large number of its citizens behind bars, but sometimes the actual facts can be surprising. It might not shock you to know that America has the highest prison population in the world, but with an incredible seven hundred and twenty four per hundred thousand the facts start to get disturbing. This number varies by state, but in some states the number is as high as one in thirteen men between twenty and thirty four. The reason for the massive influx of inmates since the early eighties is relatively simple: it’s drugs. There is a mandatory minimum sentence for non-violent drug crimes in a federal prison, and it’s five years for possession, or distribution. About half of all inmates in federal prisons are there because of this sentence. The war on drugs Despite the amazing increase in the American prison population, crime rates have actually gone down. You might be wondering how that statistic makes sense, but it all has to do with the drug minimum sentencing, and with the private prison system as an industry. The Private prison industry is worth more than seventy billion dollars, and, as such, they need to keep their numbers up. The immigration problem More than half of all immigrants held in U.S. are in private facilities. This doesn’t paint a beautiful picture of the private prison industry, but it gets worse, and the lawsuits mount highly on these companies. In 2009 two judges were caught accepting over two million dollars in bribes to convict more than five thousand children of petty crimes in order to boost their numbers and make more money. There have been numerous charges of sexual and physical assault on youth inmates in private prisons by prison staff, and the industry is lobbying to bar inmates from suing the prisons. Race You’re probably aware that, when it comes to justice in America, there can crop up the issue of racial biases. It is hard to say if a more telling set of statistics exists than the disparities between people of color, largely men, and Caucasians, as far as being sent to prison and in the length of internment. While black people make up only thirteen percent of the entire American population, this group comprises about thirty six percent of all inmates. Backgrounds While race is certainly an enormous factor, a person’s background and income level are incredibly influential in determining a prison sentence. This might not come as a surprise, but coming from a disadvantaged background makes you much more likely to end up in jail. Additionally, having a mental health issue, such as suffering from schizophrenia or depression puts you at a much higher risk of incarceration. Sixty percent of jailed individuals suffer from mental illnesses, as seen in a study from 2016. The hidden cost But there’s another, more hidden cost. Those low-risk defendants who do not make bail and are thus confined to jail while they await their trial are four times more likely to be convicted, and, compared to those who await trial in the comfort of their own homes, are three times more likely to receive a longer sentence. This is because inmates already in jail receive less favorable plea bargains and have less buying power to acquire better ones. Cost Okay, so we know a ton of Americans are held in the judicial system, but how does that affect the law abiding, hard-working, red-blooded population? Well, to put it simply, it’s expensive. It costs approximately twenty nine thousand dollars per year to keep one inmate in prison. Last year that cost tax payers approximately seventy billion dollars. It’s even more expensive to keep an inmate on death row: in New Jersey, each death row inmate costs eleven million dollars per year. This concludes our list of shocking facts about American prisons. What eerie truth surprised you most? What did you already know about this brutal industry? Let us know in the comments below.

• published: 18 May 2017
• views: 10010